tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48438335193738013392024-02-18T18:16:21.007-08:00Ruminations of a RemembrancerIn the 25th century a mysterious group of humanist philosophers rose from among the ranks of those Underground Archivists. They came to be known by the collective name “Mythmakers.” They composed works of rare beauty and symbolic power from which emerged a new behavioral code, a new system of morality based not on arbitrary prescriptions of religious dogma but on the humanist tenets of respect for life, the unity of humankind, and personal responsibility. [from The Termite Queen]Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.comBlogger246125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-38352219203124463092020-09-25T08:05:00.000-07:002020-09-25T08:05:25.684-07:00Review by Berthold Gambrel of The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars, Part Three: Bird of Prey<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1308" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbY-B689TRmn_8DqRWBhj1684EXvKkh6CRhSepdLqvTqguzJKEOyzRMCixcudh775RJSKeVEmQ3TZdw3ZB45awMth2YPhpsJzKOPjaeO4CaO-siHhcUB9pPOptHDDbGihgiVWipeQ9ocFC/s320/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.3+-+front%252C+final.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2ytDmt8">http://amzn.to/2ytDmt8</a></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Reviewing a sequel is always difficult, because the deeper I get into a series, the more spoilers from previous books there are that I have to be careful not to reveal in summarizing the plot of the latest installment. I won’t dwell too much on plot elements here. Let it suffice to say that Capt. Robbin Nikalishin is sufficiently recovered from the trauma in his past that he embarks on a new chapter in his life, but one that brings with it new challenges.</p><p>Taylor’s world-building continues to be first-rate—I particularly enjoyed her depiction of the Martian colony and the delightful term she uses for the Red Planet’s settlers: “humartians.” The sprawling world is rich with plenty of detail and a huge cast of supporting characters.</p><p>There are more philosophical asides in this book than in earlier installments—commentary from the narrator on the protagonist’s highly questionable and emotional decision-making. This is more of a romance than the previous ones. Maybe “romance” isn’t quite the term—it’s a true biographical novel, as the subtitle implies. As I was reading it, I realized that in many ways it’s a throwback to an older style of novel: the long, winding sort of tale popular in the Victorian era. Except, of course, set in the 28th century.</p><p>There’s a hint of spirituality woven in, too—as in one scene where Nikalishin and a character by the name of Fedaylia High Feather speak with a priest—or “prayst,” as he is called in the Eirish dialect. It’s a powerful scene, and reveals a lot about the characters. I won’t say much about Fedaylia High Feather. How can you resist wanting to meet a character with a name like that for yourself, eh? But I will say this: I think it’s interesting that we are informed she was born on April 30, a date which followers of this blog may recognize as the semi-obscure holiday of Walpurgis night, a sort of Spring equivalent of Halloween. And Nikalishin, of course, was born on Halloween itself. Whether the author had this in mind when choosing these dates, I don’t know, but I thought it was interesting.</p><p>As previously, Nikalishin’s pathetic inability to form normal relationships with women continues to be a problem for him, and made me want to shout “Oh, grow up, man!” And to be clear, this is a criticism of the character, not of the writing. Taylor succeeds quite well in crafting a careful portrait of Nikalishin’s extremely irregular psychology. </p><p>I would love to talk at length about all these peculiarities of Nikalishin’s, as well many other things, but the fact is, more people need to read these books first, and I won’t risk spoiling them for others by discussing details here, when there is a very real chance this may be the first time some readers learn of their existence. The world of The Man Who Found Birds Among The Stars is one that more science fiction lovers need to discover for themselves.</p><p>Thank you for the great review! </p><p>And check out Berthold's books here: </p><p>https://www.amazon.com/s?k=berthold+gambrel&crid=ANAM1H2DHZWX&sprefix=Berthold%2Caps%2C205&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_7_8 </p><p><br /></p>Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-87997896095277448932020-09-07T08:16:00.004-07:002020-09-07T08:20:20.808-07:00Review by Audrey Driscoll of The Blessing of Krozem<div class="separator"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1308" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvGW_SdEtvLkLj58POYW7fPRa4cLljD0dpgfuOzH43aq0mTCQbO_JefgYFz3vv0JhU3lylppZ5SX8t8_wPZDSd2hE1CksKlT4Tp8Fc9k_B7lqfIFM4aS5-KUzTTz5rEWefdc2Ci1yEvWMS/s320/Cover+Art+-+Krozem+novel%252C+no.5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1029724 </td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>Excellent description of what I was trying to do in the book! You may recollcct that I wrote this back in the 1970s, so it's quite a bit different from anything I've written in the 21st century. A couple of comments... I'm pleased that Halrab came across as a sympathetic character; I certainly wanted him to be. This book was written after Children of the Music, which is laid in a world much more like our own = many fewer strictly fantasy elements. Somebody who read it criticized it for that. So with Krozem, I purposely tried to make the world more fantastic, more magic oriented, and highly colorful. I found quite intriguing Audrey's comment that she envisioned Ziraf's World as painted on silk scrolls. However, I like Children of the Music just as much, personally. </p><p>Here's the review:</p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;">Lorinda J. Taylor's stated goal is "to write compelling fiction that delivers an emotional impact and leaves her readers with something to think about at the end of each story." She has certainly done that with The Blessing of Krozem.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;">Who wouldn't want to become immortal? Especially in a body that remains forever in a state of health and fitness. That is the gift bestowed on the priest Gilzara, one of the central characters of this book. It comes with the power—indeed, the obligation— to make others immortal as well, and with the expectation that the power is used wisely. But the gift coincides with a great loss for Gilzara, because his wife, Javon, refuses it and dies.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;">The creators of the world in which the story takes place gave humans free will, but also trick and test them. Because of this, the gift of immortality becomes a curse for Gilzara, a great responsibility to which he believes himself unequal. And as the only immortal human in the world, he is desperately lonely.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;">The other main character of the book is Halrab, a young apprentice priest whom Gilzara meets decades later, after much sorrowful wandering. Halrab is practical and optimistic, while Gilzara is a tortured soul. The establishment of friendship between the two takes many twists and turns, and constitutes the greater part of the story. Halrab is a sympathetic character. I could identify with him as he solved problems, made choices, and dealt with Gilzara's many anxieties.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;">The setting for this story is Ziraf's World, described in the author's Afterword as "a fantasy creation in a galaxy far, far away from our own planet." The world is sort of like Earth, but also quite different. The sun rises in the west and sets in the east. Blue is the planet's dominant colour. The mountains and even the moon are blue. So is the race of humans to which Gilzara and Halrab belong, although there are rumors of other human races in distant lands. Indeed, this world is full of colours—stars in shades of green, red, purple, and yellow, trees whose blue flowers open by moonlight, and a wealth of other plants and animals, each with distinctive names and characteristics. It's a mountainous region, and the highest mountain has the captivating name of Starbell. I loved this aspect of the book.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;">Another group of characters are the Troil, mostly incorporeal spirits attached to winds, waters, caves, and other natural features. Several of them play key roles in advancing the plot. They are rather charming individuals, whose appearance and ways of expressing themselves add an element of lightness.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;">As with Taylor's other books, this one includes a constructed language (conlang). I discerned some of its conventions as I read, and there is a glossary at the end. It reinforced the impression of an alien world complete in itself.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;" /></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 18px;">For me, the first two-thirds of the story read like a legend set in China, with its communities of priests, mountain and forest shrines, and mentions of distant and powerful deities. I envisioned the plot as though painted on silk scrolls. In the final four chapters, there is a greater degree of tension and immediacy. Crucial revelations are made, and Gilzara either succeeds or fails (I'm not saying which!) in using the blessing with which he is burdened. I could not imagine, when I started reading, what the outcome might be. The ending was satisfying but the story did give me a lot to think about, as its author intended.</span></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">Also available on Amazon: <a href="https://amzn.to/2BKy8N3" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">https://amzn.to/2BKy8N3</a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">In case you're interested, </span>here's the Amazon link to Children of the Music: <a href="http://amzn.to/2f31c2Z" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">http://amzn.to/2f31c2Z</a> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2f31c2Z"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2f31c2Z"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDdI4rAoCadSYvIUWQLKHlRPwo6CHbsbFMaNnN5MYfsUl4g66jdyrKOWlSgLJdvkOHnE7pfxRb4FZwosHQI5XpEass6m-ALKRSWss26NeEnW1GIZZ8b8jl8yrvk7NH8mvDX_Dn9MGqmIr/s2048/Children%252C+front+cover%252C+ebooks.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1359" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDdI4rAoCadSYvIUWQLKHlRPwo6CHbsbFMaNnN5MYfsUl4g66jdyrKOWlSgLJdvkOHnE7pfxRb4FZwosHQI5XpEass6m-ALKRSWss26NeEnW1GIZZ8b8jl8yrvk7NH8mvDX_Dn9MGqmIr/w170-h256/Children%252C+front+cover%252C+ebooks.jpg" width="170" /></a></div><br /></span></blockquote>Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-71363987756340405562020-08-21T09:33:00.003-07:002020-08-21T09:41:09.270-07:00Complexities of Teaching Alien Birds to Speak English<p> Here is an excerpt from The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars, Part Eight: Rare Birds. This is one of the language sessions that Lt. Avi Oman conducts with the <span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;">avian Science Officer Pikei. I need anybody, but especially my friends who are conlangers and linguistic scholars, to read and critique this. Is it terminally boring? Incorrect? Amusing? Should I cut it out of the book? Remember part of my purpose is to show how Earthers would go about learning to communicate with extraterrestrials in a first-contact situation.</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">While Robbie occupied himself preparing his crew for the next chapter of
their lives, the language study was proceeding full tilt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Avi decided he could no longer put off
tackling the perfect tenses, so he said to Pikei, “Today we will learn a new
tense – a different tense.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“A n’yew tense <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ai↑~</i>,” repeated Pikei with excitement but also slight apprehension.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“Yes!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You can say ‘I walk to the door’ – present tense – and you can say ‘I
walked to the door’ and ‘I will walk to the door’ – past tense and future
tense; but you can also say, ‘I have walked to the door.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is called the present perfect tense.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">She twittered her non-comprehension.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“The present tense of the verb ‘to have’ goes
with a different form of another verb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In this use, ‘to have’ is called an ‘auxiliary’ verb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember, we talked about that when you
learned of the use of ‘to do’ in questions and negatives.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Heihei</i>,
yes!” said Pikei.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Aug’zelerery ver’b!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">Avi gritted his teeth and ignored the mispronunciation
for the moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When ‘to have’ is an
auxiliary verb, it does not mean ‘to possess’ – it only makes the following verb
a different tense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will use the
present tense of ‘to have’ and you will put a verb form called a ‘past
participle’ after it.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“‘Pest … parsefep’le’ … <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ai↑~]</i>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“‘Par-ti-ci-ple.’”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“‘Par-te-fep’le.’”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to the kibitzing Skrov’t, she said, “‘Aug’zelerery’
… ‘parsefep’le’ … This Enge has stranger words than any language I have ever
studied!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">Avi was continuing, “With regular verbs
like ‘to walk,’ a past participle is the same as the past tense, so it is
easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You say ‘I walk to the door now’
and you say ‘I walked to the door yesterday’ and you say ‘I will walk to the
door tomorrow.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you can also say ‘At
times in the past I have walked to the door.’”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">Avi was despairing about how he was going
to explain exactly what this construction implied, but Pikei surprised him by
bouncing off her perch, ruffling her feathers, and then hopping back on
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hei</i>, I un’dersten’d!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
mean … <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nei ani<↔ ch^ !i hí’ut]</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Et means the theng thet you do makes the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>… ” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
pecked at her breast in frustration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I
know not the words to say. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of !Ka<tá the
words are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chirronó r♪o<naf</i>.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Owner/Documents/MS%20-%20Man%20Who%20Found%20Birds%20-%20v.8,%20Rare%20Birds%20(Master).doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face="" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: David; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We put ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><↔</i>’
efter the p’resent tense!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">Avi was astonished at how quickly Pikei
had caught on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed their language
had the same concept, expressed by suffixing a drawn-out whistle to the
appropriate verb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">Pikei was saying, “Es the per’fect tenses
to the pest end the f’yuture also?”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“Yes!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You can say, ‘I had walked to the door after he arrived’ – that is past
perfect. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And ‘I will have walked to the
door before he arrives’ is the future perfect.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“Pest per’fect – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nei anim<↔ ch^ !i hí’ut oit !id hwomam]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>And f’yuture per’fect es <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nei oi’ana<↔ ch^ !i hí’ut <uk !id hwoma]</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got et!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">They both cackled and laughed with great
pleasure and Pikei warbled enthusiastically to Skrov’t, “♪♫♫<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have wondered if they lacked these subtle semantic
variations, although I may have heard this construction used a thousand times
and simply didn’t catch it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
knowledge will make my ability to communicate much more flexible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But using multiple words – that certainly is an
odd and awkward way to form the consequential verb.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">Then to Avi she enthusiastically intoned
some examples of her new knowledge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“‘I
heve ate the food now.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘I hed saw them
when I was there .’…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ai↑~]</i>”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">Avi was shaking his head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“No, P.K. – remember, I said the past
participle of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">regular</i> verbs is the
same as the past tense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With irregular
verbs the participles have different forms.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">This caused Pikei to again leap from her
perch and hop around the room, the feathers flying from her tortured
breast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Skrov’t whooped merrily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ú↔kha</i>,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><Wagumát</i>, come back and settle – you’re
making a bald spot!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely you weren’t
expecting it to be that simple!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">Glaring at her companion, Pikei returned
to her place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Avi was saying, “Here is
the correct way to speak those sentences:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘I have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eaten</i> the food
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">seen</i> them when I was there.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But sometimes the participle for an irregular verb <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> the same as the past tense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>An example is ‘to hear.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You say ‘I
heard you clearly yesterday’ and you also say ‘I have often<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>heard you clearly.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will read
you a new list of irregular verbs with the past participles added.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will have to memorize them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is the only way to know what the form
is.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">The distracted Pikei warbled, “♫♫<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Parfeteple!’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘Aug’celery!’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hakhis↓]</i>”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">Keeping an admirably straight face, Avi
said, “Not ‘aug-celery.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Celery’ is a vegetable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dauntless</i> gave us some – I’ll bring it to show you.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">Later, when Avi was reporting to Robbie
on the language progress, he said, “I was really amazed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She caught on to perfect tenses right away
and we quickly moved on to the progressive.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Noting his Captain’s blank expression, he added, “That’s like, ‘I am
speaking to you’ or ‘I am walking to the door.’”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“Oh, yeah, I would have known that if I
would just think!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“So that meant I had to introduce her to
the present ‘parsifipple.’”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">Robbie guffawed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Is that how she pronounces it?”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“That and half a dozen other ways!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shouldn’t make fun of her – I mean, we can’t
say anything right in their language – but it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can</i> be amusing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s all I
can do sometimes to keep from laughing out loud, Captain.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“I can empathize with that!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“Their language also has the progressive
concept, and they do use a sort of an auxiliary verb for that, or maybe it
should be called an indicator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
stick the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nok</i> with a
high-pitched whistle in front of it after the verb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to know why they do it that way.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Owner/Documents/MS%20-%20Man%20Who%20Found%20Birds%20-%20v.8,%20Rare%20Birds%20(Master).doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face="" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: David; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, it would be really fascinating to
study the etymology and syntax of their language even though we may never be
able to speak it.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“Well, you’re just the boy to do that!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“Oh, no, I’m a rank amateur,
Captain!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I had known that being a Com
Officer meant I’d have to teach somebody else the rudiments of Inge, I’d have
taken more linguistics courses!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You really
need to be a Professor Specialist in the field to do the work justice!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“You know what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my little communiqué to Pres. Sarkisian, I
suggested that they form a task force to deal with this first-contact situation,
and two people I recommended they recruit were a Professor of anthropology and
a Professor of linguistics.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“Oh, that’s terrific, sir!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That showed great foresight!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">“If you can find the time, you ought to
work up a little treatise on what the Birds know and how you’ve taught them –
help out the expert who takes over the study.”</p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;"><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">Avi nodded.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">“I thought of that
myself, Captain. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">I’ve made a rough
beginning.”</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 12.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.3in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Owner/Documents/MS%20-%20Man%20Who%20Found%20Birds%20-%20v.8,%20Rare%20Birds%20(Master).doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Consequential verb, a term comparable to the proper definition of the perfect
tense or aspect in Inge.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Owner/Documents/MS%20-%20Man%20Who%20Found%20Birds%20-%20v.8,%20Rare%20Birds%20(Master).doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> The
progressive indicator <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face="" style="font-family: "wingdings 3"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";">&</span></span>nok</i>
is related to the verb <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">khenokí’a</i> (to
act or to carry out).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An example in
!Ka<tá would be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vral nei ni’afim <</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face="" style="font-family: "wingdings 3"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";">&</span></span>nok
| ♫vei ♫hwomam <</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face="" style="font-family: "wingdings 3"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";">&</span></span>nok]</i>
(When I was leaving, they were arriving).<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-45519817211290615462020-06-23T13:28:00.001-07:002020-06-23T13:28:41.441-07:00Review of The Korinniad by A. G. Caggiano<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Korinniad by [A. K. Caggiano]" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5117V+4oweL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="213" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Korinniad-K-Caggiano-ebook/dp/B084DXJLD3/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Korinniad&qid=1592943758&sr=8-1" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.amazon.com/Korinniad-K-Caggiano-ebook/dp/B084DXJLD3/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Korinniad&qid=1592943758&sr=8-1</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hilarious romp through the world of Greek mythology</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What a fun book!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Korinna, a worker in a pottery factory, is about to come of age and, as a
virgin of no consequence, is the perfect person to sacrifice to the Monster in
the Pit in order to ensure the fertility of the annual crops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She decides to attempt to lose her virginity
deliberately and a local priestess finds a way to convince the gods to intervene
in her behalf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Athena, Hera, and Apollo
are each to provide a man whom Korinna might choose to be her “adelphi-psychi” –
her soul-mate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aphrodite provides one of
the Erotes (Cupids in later terminology), whose name is Nikeros, to shoot love arrows
at each man so he will become infatuated with Korinna.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So the scene is set for a hilarious and mostly light-hearted
romp through the world of the Greek gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The three Fates start the story in motion, and along the way we meet Ares,
Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, and finally Hades himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We achieve the requisite visit to the Underworld
and it’s an Underworld quite different from any other you’ve ever
encountered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charon is a surprise, and you’ll
particularly enjoy the rendition of Hades (the god) and of his hound Cerberus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I don’t think it’s a spoiler when I say, Korinna
does find her adelphi-psychi and they all live happily ever afterward.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The author has a terrific imagination and a light touch
(with a few satiric barbs thrown in); I particularly enjoyed the asides where
the author argues with her own Muse. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
you know a little bit about Greek mythology, you’ll probably appreciate the
tale more, but if you want more information, you can always look up the
allusions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would recommend this tale
for anyone who wants a spritely, irreverent, and fast-moving fun fest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just what we all need right now! <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-15679014599187313632020-06-19T09:17:00.001-07:002020-06-19T09:17:54.839-07:00The Blessing of Krozem - Alternate CoversI've made two covers for The Blessing of Krozem, which I'm going to publish soon. I've posted them on Facebook and gotten opinions, but I want to put them up in a blog post and see if I can get some more opinions, because I'm having trouble deciding between them. The night scene, without the portrait of Gilzara, is more striking, I think - better composed, has depth and as one person on Twitter commented, it gives a better picture of the world. But I think it looks too much like a children's book. Somebody commented on Twitter, "Ah-h, that's so cute!" The second cover is more serious and shows the main character, but somebody else thought it also looks like a children's book. <br />
<br />
So what do you think? I wondering if I could use both - one on Amazon and one on Smashwords.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYF2G72BYe-_4Aa8LuxhoVXWDAfN6Yz1mtaFZU2KTgANaH5WAVU8I2jvvbUJUo1Koz01wvY-KKwUi8FniH53iOl3YIWyeKcvk8WPSVUEQUBkHREHqEL-PTWyuRPTb38Fbc4TAfUQJLfuHb/s1600/Cover+Art+-+Krozem+novel%252C+no.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1025" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYF2G72BYe-_4Aa8LuxhoVXWDAfN6Yz1mtaFZU2KTgANaH5WAVU8I2jvvbUJUo1Koz01wvY-KKwUi8FniH53iOl3YIWyeKcvk8WPSVUEQUBkHREHqEL-PTWyuRPTb38Fbc4TAfUQJLfuHb/s320/Cover+Art+-+Krozem+novel%252C+no.1.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
And here is the proposed blurb (subject to editing) so you'll have some idea what the story is about.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
What would it really be like to be immortal? And how important is the power of friendship
and the need for communion with one’s fellow humans?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyeo2eoKVhR8N5oL1W1paqWolYCiar9T2y44tpPl1LXwMzD2jC4NCRxAtjIoz5n4tTK3Vy0qTl1Bo8hgxHsJLPnWvIviDBU_kyo7IwlgwQKYa40A7dYBmSwteGI5dMcF1HNaWNWhkIEAs/s1600/Cover+Art+-+Krozem+novel%252C%252C+no.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1022" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyeo2eoKVhR8N5oL1W1paqWolYCiar9T2y44tpPl1LXwMzD2jC4NCRxAtjIoz5n4tTK3Vy0qTl1Bo8hgxHsJLPnWvIviDBU_kyo7IwlgwQKYa40A7dYBmSwteGI5dMcF1HNaWNWhkIEAs/s320/Cover+Art+-+Krozem+novel%252C%252C+no.5.jpg" width="204" /></a>On Ziraf’s World, a planet in a universe far away from ours,
an old priest named Gilzara decides to ask the Dreamers for the gift of
immortality, and Krozem the Creator of Humankind grants his request, including
giving him the power to make others immortal. However, things go tragically wrong for
Gilzara; his dying wife refuses the gift, and Gilzara is left to live his
immortal life alone. The Troil,
incorporeal spirit beings who also inhabit this world, take it upon themselves
to save Gilzara from destroying the token that holds the key to his
immortality, but he continues to see himself as a freak and an outcast, unable
to relate to any mortal. The Troil teach
him the power of <i>venwara</i> – wizardry – and thus fortified, he returns to
the human world, desperately searching for a connection. He finds it in Halrab, a young novice priest,
and together they set out to climb the Starbell, the highest mountain in
Ziraf’s World, the symbol of an unattainable goal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-42260683928261281092020-06-13T13:36:00.000-07:002020-06-13T13:36:52.059-07:00So Where Did My Characters Come From?<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">[This post was
inspired by the following post on The Story Reading Ape’s blog. Thanks, Chris!] </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/2020/06/13/the-teenage-protagonist-guest-post-by-jaq-d-hawkins-2/?fbclid=IwAR03c2_kDckW1yrpFM3Ld0Nh4VoVSJIYjPxOt62YAMPO8qLpskPz_ZdxmAc"><span style="color: windowtext;">https://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/2020/06/13/the-teenage-protagonist-guest-post-by-jaq-d-hawkins-2/?fbclid=IwAR03c2_kDckW1yrpFM3Ld0Nh4VoVSJIYjPxOt62YAMPO8qLpskPz_ZdxmAc</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">TSRA’s article
ends with a question: “What books do you love that have teenage protagonists?
Have you ever written a story from a teenager’s point of view?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Unfortunately, my
response strayed from answering that question, so I’ll just say, not
really. I don’t recall ever loving a
book with a teenage protagonist. In
fact, current young adult books as a rule leave me cold – the few that I’ve read always
seem contrived and shallow. Now, my
series <i>The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars</i> is a fictional biography,
so part of the first volume does deal with Robbin Nikalishin’s childhood and
adolescence but only because what happens to him then is foundational to the
rest of his life. Otherwise, most of my
characters are adults, with a few exceptions.
In <i>The Blessing of Krozem</i> (not published yet) Halrab is 28 at the
beginning of the story, which is just past adolescence in that culture; and in <i>Children
of the Music</i>, two important characters are children (seven and five years
old), but that book was written for adults. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I should say I
didn't read fantasy as a child, except for the Oz books – I read a lot of those
because we had a close friend who was crazy about them and made sure I had a
big supply. Oh, and I also read Dr.
Doolittle. There were only two of those
books that stuck in my mind – <i>Mudface the Turtle</i> (where a giant sea
turtle carries two youngsters to the new world during Noah's flood and that's
how that region got populated) and <i>The Canary Opera</i> (Note a burgeoning
interest in language and in talking animals, essentially aliens). I credit Mudface with the beginning of my
interest in anthropology. But there were
two books (or types of books) that really molded my development.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Secret Garden (HarperClassics)" height="200" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51pqVVCq-yL._AC_UY218_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="134" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Secret-HarperClassics-Frances-Hodgson-Burnett/dp/006440188X/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3S8ELPR632L7G&dchild=1&keywords=the+secret+garden+book&qid=1592079485&sprefix=The+Secret+Garden%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-3">https://www.amazon.com/Secret-HarperClassics-Frances-Hodgson-Burnett/dp/006440188X/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3S8ELPR632L7G&dchild=1&keywords=the+secret+garden+book&qid=1592079485&sprefix=The+Secret+Garden%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-3</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The first was <i>The
Secret Garden</i>. It probably would be considered MG today, but I read it 14
times the year I was 8 and had the whole first chapter memorized. It has children (not adolescents) as the
chief characters, but they develop and grow in the manner of much adult
literary fiction, and the psychology of Colin in particular is quite comprehensible. I think my interest in how the minds and
characters of my MCs develop probably stems from being so immersed in that
book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And then the
second influence was historical fiction.
I believe the first thing I ever read that had a historical (and medieval)
setting was <i>Adam of the Road</i>, by Elizabeth Janet Gray. But it wasn’t long before I discovered
Alexandre Dumas! Swashbuckling stories
became my thing! At the same age
I was reading <i>The Secret Garden</i>, I found in the school library a
bowdlerized version of <i>The Three Musketeers</i>, and that was it – I was
hooked! At the age of 10 I read the
(unbowdlerized) Count of Monte Cristo. I
read that one many times, also. It
probably wasn’t suitable for my age (do you want your 10-year-old learning what
“infanticide” is?) but I was fascinated by the character of the Count and how his
experiences stimulated his later actions.
When I was 12, I read every book by Dumas – all the Three Musketeers
books and some things I don’t even remember now. At fourteen I read <i>The Black Tulip</i>, which is
not like Dumas’s other books at all. It’s
about the tulip craze in the 16th century, which I had never heard
of, but there was a certain charm about that book that none of his other books
had.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Count of Monte Cristo (Bantam Classics)" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71RCIOaAqZL._AC_UY218_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Count-Monte-Cristo-Bantam-Classics/dp/0553213504/ref=sr_1_4?crid=15MR9N6133L5B&dchild=1&keywords=count+of+monte+cristo+book&qid=1592079821&sprefix=count+of+monte+cristo%2Caps%2C217&sr=8-4">https://www.amazon.com/Count-Monte-Cristo-Bantam-Classics/dp/0553213504/ref=sr_1_4?crid=15MR9N6133L5B&dchild=1&keywords=count+of+monte+cristo+book&qid=1592079821&sprefix=count+of+monte+cristo%2Caps%2C217&sr=8-4</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.3in;">And then there was
</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.3in;">The Prisoner of Zenda</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.3in;"> when I was twelve.
It was my first introduction to an imaginary land (or as my conlanger
friends prefer, a constructed world), although Ruritania is really an imaginary
country. (Well, I guess Oz is a constructed
world, but I had no concept of that at the time.) After </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.3in;">Zenda </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.3in;">I made my own imaginary countries
and drew castles and maps – lots of fun.
And the imaginary country idea is why I really liked Ursula K. LeGuin’s </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.3in;">Malafrena</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.3in;">
setting, many years later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I mustn’t omit my
Roman period. When I was ten years old,
the movie <i>Quo Vadis</i> came out, and I became fascinated by all things
Roman. A new period of history to
opened up before me. I read the book of <i>Quo Vadis</i>
– another tale most parents wouldn’t approve for their ten-year-old, but I was
captivated by it, and I learned a lot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Quo Vadis" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51s4zcJU41L._AC_UY218_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Quo-Vadis-Henryk-K-Sienkiewicz/dp/1934169064/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1JAXAU4JGI5H6&dchild=1&keywords=quo+vadis+book&qid=1592079971&sprefix=quo+vadis%2Caps%2C210&sr=8-4">https://www.amazon.com/Quo-Vadis-Henryk-K-Sienkiewicz/dp/1934169064/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1JAXAU4JGI5H6&dchild=1&keywords=quo+vadis+book&qid=1592079971&sprefix=quo+vadis%2Caps%2C210&sr=8-4</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I read some of
what today would be called YA. I liked
the nursing series – Cherry Ames and Sue Barton – but I hated Nancy Drew. I only read a couple, I think. I remember it felt completely
unrealistic. No girl of the age of 16 that
I knew had her own car and ran around solving crimes on her own. But I soon discovered adult mysteries,
particularly Ellery Queen. And Sherlock
Holmes – I read every one of his stories when I was twelve!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And then of course
my mother was an English and Romance Language teacher, and because of her, my
interest in languages developed, and I got into Shakespeare. That kind of goes along with the historical
swashbuckling theme. I read a lot that was
not required in school, and for Christmas when I was fourteen, I asked my
mother for a Complete Shakespeare. I
still have that book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Then I went to
college, intending to major in history. But
I hated my history teachers in my freshman year and I loved my English teacher,
so English literature became the major of choice. After that I read mostly literary
fiction. Then at the age of 29 I finally
discovered Tolkien and to coin a cliché, the rest is history (or fantasy). It was actually several more years before I read
any science fiction, and when I did, I discovered LeGuin. I’ve always said I got into SF through the
back door of fantasy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And all of these
things influenced the kinds of characters I write about. The concept of a weak or troubled male character
who has to overcome a lot of odds probably began with Colin and his father in <i>The Secret
Garden</i>, proceeded with the <i>Count of Monte Cristo</i>, and shows up in
Griffen Gwidian in <i>The Termite Queen</i> and in Gilzara in <i>The Blessing
of Krozem</i>. My female characters are
usually stronger types, particularly Kaitrin Oliva in <i>The Termite Queen</i>. I think they began with Mary Lennox in <i>The
Secret Garden</i>. I’m not sure where
Robbin Nikalishin came from – probably a combination with the swashbuckling D’Artagnan
and the troubled man who has to overcome a lot of odds, ultimately realizing he
must give up retribution as a motivator, like the Count of Monte Cristo. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And what about the
conundrum of my termites? I presume they came from Mudface and the talking animals,
and from Shakespeare and from Greek myths, and from a growing interest in
science. Ki’shto’ba is a quintessential
hero, but it commits the sin of Hercules, who killed his children, and so has
to atone and find redemption (a favorite theme of mine) through the Twelve
Labors and the visit to the Underworld. Za’dut
is the ultimate Trickster character, which turns up a lot in Dumas, and the
villains owe a lot to characters like Cassius and Iago and Cardinal Richelieu. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The best conclusion I can draw is that the influences
of our younger days, whether actual or vicarious experiences, come together to
make us the writers that we are.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhysUjHsORIu7dTwQbtEOje2SmHdicRqqyl7pahrKylKqLLTMb2uSJi0pcLwlcKeWG-YO5fSPYKvhkLsORR2yNfrsa-tCbUw7e0zRO81TSApXdQ_zNCmUriRbeywkv8m1amzvZRve6XVdWd/s1600/TQ+v.2+Front+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1039" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhysUjHsORIu7dTwQbtEOje2SmHdicRqqyl7pahrKylKqLLTMb2uSJi0pcLwlcKeWG-YO5fSPYKvhkLsORR2yNfrsa-tCbUw7e0zRO81TSApXdQ_zNCmUriRbeywkv8m1amzvZRve6XVdWd/s320/TQ+v.2+Front+Cover.jpg" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And so I present my heroic termites!<br /><a href="http://amzn.to/LnvhbL" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://amzn.to/LnvhbL</span></a>y </td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Hlk32216176"></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-30644025598425049952020-03-22T09:45:00.002-07:002020-03-22T09:45:41.467-07:00My Review of Vokhtah, by ac flory<img alt="VOKHTAH (The Suns of Vokhtah Book 1)" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81nceEATk3L._AC_UY218_ML3_.jpg" /><br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/VOKHTAH-Suns-Vokhtah-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00B14OF2I/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=vokhtah&qid=1584895243&s=books&sr=1-1">https://www.amazon.com/VOKHTAH-Suns-Vokhtah-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00B14OF2I/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=vokhtah&qid=1584895243&s=books&sr=1-1</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">“They were now just two frail iVokh pitting themselves
against the might of the wild.”</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;">
Vokhtah is a difficult but rewarding
book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you like unusual conceptions of
extraterrestrials, this is for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once
you’ve read about half of it, the complexities begin to clarify themselves, but
two readings are needed for complete understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, it took me quite a while to grasp
that the Blue and the Messenger were the same individual, and I also didn’t
realize that there were two traders’ caravans wending their way to Needlepoint
– I thought the Junior and the Messenger were in the same caravan and I got confused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of the problem is that the characters
don’t have names, only titles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her
end matter, the author addresses this – it seems there is a taboo in this
culture about enunciating your real name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;">
Vokhtah is a grim and forbidding planet;
it has two suns, one a hot white star and the other a red dwarf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes they both shine at once, creating a
climate of extremes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The planet is
populated with an assortment of mostly vicious and predatory lifeforms and that
includes the intelligent ones, who prefer to consume their food animals live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a tribute to the author that she can
take these basically repulsive intelligent lifeforms and make them sympathetic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I would recommend that any human ship of
exploration steer clear of the planet Vokhtah – humans would probably be seen
as prey animals!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;">
My guess would be that the Vokh
evolved from bat-like creatures – their ability to echo-locate is mentioned briefly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have wings (which contain their lungs),
so most of them can fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have two
hearts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they are telepathic hermaphrodites
with seemingly magical inner powers, like mind-healing and also mind-killing (their
Healers are also trained as assassins).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are two variant species – the Vokh (large and dominant) and the
iVokh (meaning literally “small Vokh”). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Vokh have a serious flaw – breeding is
consummated by means of violent rape; nobody wants to bear an offspring because
the “female” always dies in childbirth (this doesn’t occur with the iVokh).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;">
However, the people have a strong
sense of honor and obligation – if you accept help from someone, you incur an
obligation and if you don’t fulfill it, you are ostracized. In the second half
of the book, after the episode at the Little Blue River, the main characters –
the Messenger and the Apprentice – are shown developing a sense rare in these
people – empathy, an ability to relate to and care about others with whom one
has a relationship, beyond the obligations of the code of honor. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;">
All this just scratches the surface
of the author’s astonishing creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
should also mention that the book is a cliff hanger, and no second volume has
yet appeared.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;">
I must say a few words about the language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, the Kindle version has no
Table of Contents and so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the author
provided a brief treatment of the language in the end matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems to have no pronouns, and verbs are
consistently rendered only with the present participle form, all of which helps
to create the alien language effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certain
words used in the text are self-explanatory, like “ki” for “no” and “s’so” for
“yes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;">
There is one etymological gaffe
that I can’t help commenting on – the explanation of the word “boot” (a
foot-covering).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The character doesn’t
know what the word “boot” means and it’s explained as a contraction of “bucket
for foot.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet that derivation would
be impossible since the iVokh aren’t speaking English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have to assume that the Vokhtah words
reflect a similar construction, which the author could have fabricated.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;">
But that’s only a quibble – don’t
be deterred!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This really is an amazing
book and while the culture may not be palatable to everyone (you need a strong
stomach sometimes), I definitely recommend it to any serious reader of science
fiction.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;">
<br /></div>
<br />Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-44305214100784233312020-03-18T07:42:00.000-07:002020-03-18T07:42:19.016-07:00First Review of Man Who Found Birds, Part 7 - a humdinger of a review!<span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5S7XnVlGwo7-l0EFh_-P9xKBi1PFufFe5SfkA5fLQ16qodRCmLBeF7yea9YqlkIip-fZvj4WEHA6_fjNM1ekFMGCnrlJjAt_nEBZZF-JJsfDzYRhdNj8ymevK-dKTkJJfLIsI4xwLYzvj/s1600/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.7+-+front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1023" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5S7XnVlGwo7-l0EFh_-P9xKBi1PFufFe5SfkA5fLQ16qodRCmLBeF7yea9YqlkIip-fZvj4WEHA6_fjNM1ekFMGCnrlJjAt_nEBZZF-JJsfDzYRhdNj8ymevK-dKTkJJfLIsI4xwLYzvj/s320/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.7+-+front.jpg" width="204" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://amzn.to/337Uem0">https://amzn.to/337Uem0</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;">By Audrey Driscoll</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;">This is the seventh part of the fictional biography of 28th century spacefarer Robbin Nikalishin. It's every bit as gripping and exciting as the very first book. No, actually it's even more so, because in this book, the long-anticipated voyage to the stars actually happens. The first third of the book shows Capt. Robbie and his crew launch into space and settle in to shipboard routines in a long series of temporal quantum jumps and intervals that eventually take them to the vicinity of the star Epsilon Eridani. The only shadow on this optimistic beginning is the secretly delusional state of Chief Engineer Ian Glencrosse. Otherwise, we have a multicultural storytelling session, hormone-driven hijinks, birthday celebrations, and even a wedding. I laughed out loud at some scenes and was moved to tears at others. Many of the crew members are familiar personalities from the earlier books, so it's easy to relate to them as they interact and become an extended family.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;">Things get serious when part of the ship's engine malfunctions. Two tension-filled chapters are followed by relief and the thrill of discovery and a series of historical "firsts." Then, just over the halfway point, real disaster strikes and the tension is cranked up to excruciating. There were many places where I honestly did not want to keep reading, but couldn't make myself stop. I will say no more at this point, except that the ending promises momentous revelations for humans of the 28th century as well as readers of the 21st. Those who have read Lorinda J. Taylor's book The Termite Queen may guess at some of them. I hope Part 8 is in the works!</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;">A few things that impressed me especially: first, the extent to which Robbin Nikalishin has grown and matured since his younger days. He has definitely overcome some of his personality flaws to the point that he draws upon his earlier errors and their consequences in dealing with a number of issues on this all-important mission to the stars. Second, the aforementioned wedding scene includes a tantalizing glimpse into the writings of one of the Mythmakers. The Valley of the White Bear and the character Ingreaf are referenced in several of the earlier books, so I was intrigued to learn a little more about them here. Finally, I continue to be impressed by the technological terms for engines and other devices that do not as yet exist. When the Engineers and technical crew deal with these items, their discussions sound absolutely authentic (bearing in mind that I'm neither engineer nor scientist).</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;">It may be argued that a reader committed to a long-running series may not be an entirely objective reviewer. On the other hand, having followed Capt. Robbie's career through its many ups and downs, I would have been disappointed if this episode had been less than thrilling. I was certainly not disappointed, and would definitely recommend this book to anyone who appreciates serious science fiction leavened with realistic human relationships and emotions. But you really have to read the first six books to fully appreciate this one!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;">Find the original review at Smashwords </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1008652">https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1008652</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;">or on Amazon.ca </span><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Found-Birds-among-Stars-Seven-ebook/dp/B085PZL2BM/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=lorinda+j.+Taylor&qid=1584542084&sr=8-4">https://www.amazon.ca/Found-Birds-among-Stars-Seven-ebook/dp/B085PZL2BM/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=lorinda+j.+Taylor&qid=1584542084&sr=8-4</a><br />
<br />
Find Audrey Driscoll's book here: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Audrey-Driscoll/e/B00J7X7QVC?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1584542263&sr=8-1">https://www.amazon.com/Audrey-Driscoll/e/B00J7X7QVC?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1584542263&sr=8-1</a><br />
or here: <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/audreydriscoll">https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/audreydriscoll</a>Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-85025168864762424752020-02-28T09:03:00.000-08:002020-02-28T09:03:01.556-08:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAFgPrFbRGsr7etitjBbk1N5dDxsag5IAWCz9e6EYaQAkuhlFxd08cYTSnPXda8qND_jWvzNhKshwneaKi8Cu3VbMPtNe0IwPWkGzpoNaZQSYRQympu8lVBkJ5E17APejRYy9i-lt41VZ/s1600/ebookweek2+-+balloons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="432" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAFgPrFbRGsr7etitjBbk1N5dDxsag5IAWCz9e6EYaQAkuhlFxd08cYTSnPXda8qND_jWvzNhKshwneaKi8Cu3VbMPtNe0IwPWkGzpoNaZQSYRQympu8lVBkJ5E17APejRYy9i-lt41VZ/s320/ebookweek2+-+balloons.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">All my books are enrolled at half-price,<br />so go check them out!<br />Starts Sunday (Leap Day)<br /><br /><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/754372">https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/754372</a><br /></span></td></tr>
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<br />Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-23363232350212577102020-01-11T07:27:00.000-08:002020-01-11T07:27:30.768-08:00New Review of The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars, Pt.2: Wounded Eagle<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNRGtuKj1Lz9FJIUzvRa6aeCwJgc1y5ypINSFBcMwkqec8VgX_67gj5XYssttuuNpSuf2Sf9CgK5FI0dpcYOIXs8ygcHrzThcZL9dfqwGpSRSHt2H5z4IKE0UYzKLsp6bey-BRZMei2JZ/s1600/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.2+working.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1022" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNRGtuKj1Lz9FJIUzvRa6aeCwJgc1y5ypINSFBcMwkqec8VgX_67gj5XYssttuuNpSuf2Sf9CgK5FI0dpcYOIXs8ygcHrzThcZL9dfqwGpSRSHt2H5z4IKE0UYzKLsp6bey-BRZMei2JZ/s200/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.2+working.jpg" width="127" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2rfAaP4">http://amzn.to/2rfAaP4</a></span></td></tr>
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<b>New review by Berthold Gambrel </b></div>
<br />
This was a tough review to write, because this book is part two of a series, and part one ends on a massive cliffhanger. The majority of part two is therefore about the protagonist, Captain Robbin Nikalishin, dealing with the repercussions of that cliffhanger.<br />
<br />
I don’t want to get into the specifics of plot, for fear that people would stumble upon this review without having read part one, and it would be spoiled. Normally, I’m content to give spoiler warnings, but in this case I don’t even want to risk that.<br />
<br />
Many of the things I said in my review of part one still apply: The story is still engaging, the characters are still memorable and vivid, the world-building is impeccable, the prose is still crisp, and Capt. Nikalishin is still a brave man who nonetheless can be profoundly irritating in some respects. His stubborn pride remains, although it kind of morphs into something else as he grapples with the consequences of the events at the end of the first book. And his relationship with his mother continues to make me want to grab him by the shoulders and say, “Grow up, you big baby!”<br />
<br />
And, as I said in my review of the first book, none of these latter points about the captain’s character should be interpreted as negative comments on the book itself. Quite the contrary. Even more than the first, this book is a character study of Nikalishin, and he is certainly a very interesting, multi-faceted personality.<br />
<br />
Again, no spoilers, but one of the central plot elements in Wounded Eagle involves Nikalishin being forced to choose whether to reveal certain information to punish a particularly despicable character, but at the cost that revealing this information will be deeply painful to an innocent third party. Nikalishin’s choice, and the reasoning behind it, are very well thought-out and described, and was satisfying to read, even if I can’t honestly claim I’d have made the same decision.<br />
<br />
Read my review of the first one, and if that doesn’t make you want to go out and read this series, I don’t know what will. It’s a sci-fi epic that focuses on human drama, with lots of interesting world-building, as well as some deep philosophical and religious ideas woven into the story, in the form of the “Mythmaker Precepts”—the philosophical pillars at the core of Taylor’s 28th century society.<br />
<br />
Now, with all that out of the way, I want to have a word about my favorite character in the series: Prof. Anezka Lara. She’s not actually in this book as much as she is in part one, but when she’s around, she’s a lot of fun. Her gruff, no-nonsense personality reminds me of several academics I’ve known, and frankly, I adore the way she bluntly tells Nikalishin what she thinks. It’s especially nice in this book where—and here I’m straying close to spoiler territory—he’s kind of a big deal, and most people are treating him with kid gloves. Not Lara. She’s never one to mince words.<br />
<br />
Again, if you like sci-fi at all, read this series. Even if you don’t like sci-fi, there’s a good chance you’ll be captivated by the narrative Taylor weaves.<br />
<br />
Now, I’m off to write some fan-fiction about Prof. Lara and…<br />
<br />
JUST KIDDING! That is a joke; don’t worry. But if you want to understand the joke, you should read the series.<br />
<br />
See the original review at <a href="https://ruinedchapel.com/2020/01/10/book-review-the-man-who-found-birds-among-the-stars-part-two-wounded-eagle-by-lorinda-j-taylor/?fbclid=IwAR0fLG_VkyCC0OFil8Cl0svRE1-MkiTBhgGB90XSWHK-8sHFP1pL_04ZKQY">https://ruinedchapel.com/2020/01/10/book-review-the-man-who-found-birds-among-the-stars-part-two-wounded-eagle-by-lorinda-j-taylor/?fbclid=IwAR0fLG_VkyCC0OFil8Cl0svRE1-MkiTBhgGB90XSWHK-8sHFP1pL_04ZKQY</a>Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-47538987377018424182020-01-02T12:45:00.000-08:002020-01-02T12:46:34.843-08:00Review of Brother Termite, by Patricia Anthony<br />
I've reviewed a very strange book entitled Brother Termite, by Patricia Anthony.<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DE9CHHS/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0">https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DE9CHHS/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0</a><br />
<br />
<br />
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“We should have been more intelligent than to love the thing
we were destroying.”</div>
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I have conflicted feelings about this book – in fact, I
found it profoundly disturbing – and I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to give it
three or four stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t give it
five because the plot is annoyingly muddled and hard to follow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the book is also very affective, partly because
it’s narrated from the aliens’ point of view and the reader can’t help having
sympathy for them, so I settled on four stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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The story is laid in an alternate reality (I think you know
that aliens didn’t really take over Earth during the Eisenhower Presidency) and
those aliens are obviously extrapolated from the Gray Aliens of Roswell fame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These aliens evolved from an extraterrestrial
termite-like species, but I doubt the author really studied termites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve made an extensive study of termites and
I can’t believe that evolved intelligent termites would be anything like the
creatures in this book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently the
author was fascinated by the hive-mind concept – the inescapable collective
consciousness – which I think might be applicable to various species of ants,
but less so to termites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Termites mind
their own business and are very peaceable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They have their castes – workers, soldiers, alates (reproductives) – and
each caste behaves according to its genetic imperatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They kill only in self-defense, such as
against invading ants, when the less powerful termite soldiers sacrifice
themselves to satiate the invaders, thus preventing an invasion of the mound
and the destruction of the Queen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
the alates also sacrifice themselves, flying out in great numbers, of which
only a very few will successfully breed and form a new colony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest end up as food for every other
species in the world, including sometimes humans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And my opinion is that if such a species
developed intelligence and individuality, that would lead to an inner moral
sense that is not so different from the human imperative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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There are many characteristics displayed by the aliens in
this book that I take exception to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
can’t touch each other because that plunges them back into the collective
consciousness and they lose their individuality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, terrestrial termites are very tactile –
since they are all deaf and only the alates have eyes, they rely on touch, as
well as pheromones, for communication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pheromones
aren’t even mentioned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These aliens have
both hearing and sight, and they seem to be all male (except for the breeding
female), so perhaps they evolved from Kings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(They also seem to have only four limbs and an upright walking stance,
and they also breathe and talk like humans, through the mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Insects breathe through spiracles on their
abdomen.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But then there are the “Loving Helpers” – an ironic name for
very small, non-intelligent entities who must have evolved from workers and
perhaps also from soldiers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
constantly inhabit the collective consciousness and can’t live apart from one
another, and it seems that anything they touch is destroyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They absolutely terrify humans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t imagine any real termite workers (or
soldiers) evolving like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I was reading this book, I kept thinking that if
termite-like creatures evolved in this manner, it must have taken a really long
evolutionary period like 10s of millions of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And lo and behold, near the end of the book
it’s stated that these “people” (I don’t recall if a name is ever given to the
species) first came above ground 30 million years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they could have evolved this way, I guess,
but I certainly don’t like the results.</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One thing I do like
is the impressive descriptive style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
“Cousins” (as they are known throughout the book) have a great sense of order
and anything chaotic unsettles them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
author uses colors, smells, and configurations (the Cousins especially like
fractals) to set up scenes and define emotions and attitudes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is done very skillfully and it’s one of
the reasons I settled on four stars.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I notice that the Goodreads description mentions that the
book is occasionally comical, but I didn’t find one single bit of humor in this
whole book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recommend Brother Termite only
with a warning – prepare to become deeply involved and profoundly unsettled as
you read it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Additional note for my conlanging friends:</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">n Brother Termite, no attention is given to the communication problem. How did they communicate with Earthers when they first invaded? Everybody speaks perfect English all the time, even among the aliens. There are maybe three words used that would be in the alien language, and don't ask me what they are because I didn't write them down as I read, and finding anything in an ebook is well-nigh impossible. So I found that aspect of the book quite a disappointment.</span></span>Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-71816975207922327222019-10-17T08:08:00.000-07:002019-10-17T08:08:02.094-07:00Great New Review of The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars, Part One: Eagle Ascendant<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZoaMyYURnpeWeTAQ5wSfBzNs6oXBdYpB4xuNY30ix8NHr9g9fvgRpWZNh3wpEMjAqEiR9csVZlVIS8Lm6Fig4V4KONGN3TpuIe4frcnfvDMlf-hlIxMWsl0jHqpMO1maNv242Yb_l23zu/s1600/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.1+-+front%252C+final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZoaMyYURnpeWeTAQ5wSfBzNs6oXBdYpB4xuNY30ix8NHr9g9fvgRpWZNh3wpEMjAqEiR9csVZlVIS8Lm6Fig4V4KONGN3TpuIe4frcnfvDMlf-hlIxMWsl0jHqpMO1maNv242Yb_l23zu/s200/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.1+-+front%252C+final.jpg" width="127" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2iTNuUd">http://amzn.to/2iTNuUd</a> </span></td></tr>
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<b>The first review that ever commented on a seminal thread in the book - Robbie's relationahip with his mother.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>From Berthold Gambrel's blog, </b><a href="https://ruinedchapel.com/2019/10/15/book-review-the-man-who-found-birds-among-the-stars-a-biographical-fiction-part-one-eagle-ascendant-by-lorinda-j-taylor/">https://ruinedchapel.com/2019/10/15/book-review-the-man-who-found-birds-among-the-stars-a-biographical-fiction-part-one-eagle-ascendant-by-lorinda-j-taylor/</a><br />
<br />
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This book is a science fiction coming-of-age tale that tells
the story of Robbin Haysus Nikalishin, who from an early age dreams of voyaging
to the stars. Set in the 2700s, on an Earth that has been remade after a series
of catastrophic wars. A new government has arisen, as well as a new set of
moral precepts designed to reconcile as well as supersede the core tenets of
the old religions. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Additionally, the passage of time has gradually changed the
spellings and phrasings of the English language—itself now called “Inge.” So,
the United States of America has become Midammerik, India has become Ind, and
so on. The spellings are clever—different enough to convey that the world has
changed, but similar enough that the reader knows what’s what.</div>
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Cleverly, the book is framed as an official biography
written to commemorate Nikalishin, but with the twist that the notes at the
beginning suggest the officials who commissioned it are less than pleased with
how the author has chosen to depict the subject.</div>
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Nikalishin’s life is driven by his determination and
unrelenting desire to be a spaceship captain. He studies physics from some of
the best professors in the world, and also attends a military academy, all in
order to prepare himself for the job of starship captain. He and his good
friend Kolm MaGilligoody rise swiftly through the ranks, ultimately joining an
experimental program known as SkyPiercer.</div>
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Nikalishin’s other interests besides space travel include
birdwatching and, of course, sex. He has many romantic encounters with various
women he meets throughout his remarkable rise to worldwide fame as a daring
space explorer. Some of the relationships last, some don’t, but all of them
influence him in one way or another. The romance sub-plots are well done and
always are both integral to the plot and right for the characters.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, make no mistake, while the book has strong characters
and a great plot, it’s not simply an epic space opera. That is, it’s not one of
these affairs where space travel is taken as an unexplained fact-of-life to be
explained by hand-waving. This is a “hard” science fiction book, and there is
plenty of in-depth discussion about the quantum physics involved with making
interstellar jumps. But it never feels heavy-handed or dry; indeed, the
discussions about physics punctuated by Nikalishin arguing with his professors
are quite enjoyable.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s the thing that dazzled me most: how alive and organic
the whole world of the book feels. It would have been so easy to make it the
literary equivalent of a video game on rails: Robbin Nikalishin meets character
X who gives him Y so he can advance to the next stage and ultimately be a space
hero.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But Taylor didn’t take the easy way. She did the hard,
meticulous work of world-building and fleshing out all the supporting
characters. I’m in awe of how every character, from Nikalishin’s mother to his
best friend to his lovers and even down to the ship’s janitor, are
fully-realized and well-described. This isn’t a book, it’s a whole universe
rendered in prose.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh, and I haven’t even touched on how much I love the
depiction of religion. Kolm and his family follow a strain of religion clearly
descended from Irish Catholicism. They don’t even fully understand some of the
meaning of the symbols and terms of the rituals, but they follow them even so,
and it brings them spiritual comfort. I loved the way this was handled—neither
stridently preachy nor cloyingly condescending; it felt real.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now we’re at the part of the review where I typically
mention typos in indie books. I know from reading Taylor’s blog that she
self-edits her books, and that’s typically verboten for indie authors. Do you
know how many typos I found in this book?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s right, two typos in the whole thing. I don’t have a
word count for this book, but I know Amazon estimates the length at 510 pages.
My longest book is 308 pages, and it was about 67,000 words, so approximately
217 words per page. If that’s the same here, that means Taylor wrote about
110,670 words, self-edited, and came out with only two minor errors. </div>
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That’s insanely good. In the novel, the characters have to
make precise calculations, correct down to like the millionth decimal place,
before attempting an interstellar jump, or they risk disaster. Taylor obviously
has a knack for care and precision that makes her fit to serve aboard one of
her own starships! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you can’t tell already, I absolutely loved this book and
I can’t recommend it highly enough. Taylor built a fascinating world, populated
it with rich, believable characters, and told a brilliantly paced story about
them. This is sci-fi at its best.</div>
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Now, I want to talk a little bit about something somewhat
spoiler-y. It’s not giving away too much, as it concerns something that happens
less than a quarter of the way into the book, but it has ramifications for the
rest of the story. Feel free to skip this if you want to go in completely
unspoiled.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nikalishin’s parents divorce when he is a young boy after
his father physically abuses him and his mother, Sterling. Sterling raises her
son on her own, and makes every effort to see that he achieves his dream of
becoming a starship captain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At some point, in his late teens, Robbin learns that
Sterling has been working as an escort for wealthy men in order to pay for her
son to attend the schools and take the classes he needs. Robbin is horrified by
this revelation, and ever afterward, his relationship with his mother becomes
strained. He feels, somehow, that everything he achieves and his relationship
with her are irrevocably tainted. They have a falling out, and later a
semi-reconciliation, but he can never quite achieve a healthy relationship with
her, even when he leaves to risk his life on dangerous space missions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This made me dislike Robbin. He seemed quite ungrateful
towards his mother, after everything she’d done for him. He even, for lack of a
better term, slut-shames her at one point, which is ludicrous given that he
himself seemingly sleeps with every other woman he meets. (More than one
character calls him out on his hypocrisy, but he doesn’t seem to take it to
heart.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a way, his initial feelings are kind of understandable.
We get it, Robbin; you had to think about your mother sleeping with someone,
and it grossed you out. But after that moment of revulsion, an adult should
realize that parents are just people, and that these are the kinds of
situations that happen in life, and then get past it. After all, as Sterling
repeatedly tells her son, she did it for him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even as a world-renowned heroic starship captain, Robbin
Nikalishin really is profoundly childish in many ways. He has extremely limited
ability to understand the feelings of women. He’s stunned to discover one of
his acquaintances is a lesbian. He doesn’t mind it, per se, he just acts like
the concept is completely new to him. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He also has an incredibly bad temper. He is sometimes
justified, but even then, he tends to explode in rage at the slightest
provocation. Admittedly, the primary antagonist, who does not appear until
relatively late in the book, is quite infuriating. But Capt. Nikalishin gets
bent out of shape when someone so much as mispronounces his surname. I was
rooting for him, but there were still times when I wanted to sock him right in
the belly of his beloved military uniform and tell him to grow the hell up.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To be clear, none of this is a complaint about the writing.
Quite the opposite, in fact. It’s a credit to Taylor that she was able to craft
such a complete character, that a reader could both cheer on and simultaneously
find extremely irritating. Too many writers make their heroes one-dimensional
cardboard cut-outs, or worse, heroes with one painfully obvious flaw tacked-on
just to make them Not Perfect. Capt. Nikalishin is a flawed hero, and better
still, he’s flawed in the way that real heroic figures often are. Think about
the philosopher Carlyle and his so-called “great men,” who often were
impulsive, emotional and obsessed with crafting their own image as flawless
paragons. Nikalishin is what I suspect a real-life “great man” is like—which is
to say, quite maddening to know personally.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And of course, I should stress that this is only part one of
the series. The book ends with an absolutely epic cliffhanger, and I’m eagerly
looking forward to finding out how things develop from here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s funny: even though I like writing sci-fi adventures,
most of the indie books I’ve reviewed have not been in that genre. I haven’t
consciously avoided them; that’s just how it’s worked out. Audrey Driscoll
recommended this to me, and I’m so grateful that she did. It was fun to read a
book in roughly the same genre as I primarily write—especially one as marvelous
as this one. I’m guessing that if you enjoyed my novel The Directorate, you are
very likely going to love this book. It’s a brilliantly thought-out and
well-executed science-fiction epic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As one indie sci-fi author to another: Ms. Taylor, my hat’s
off to you. This is a really great novel, and for me, it ranks right up there
with the best by the likes of Asimov, Clarke, and the other All-Time Greats of
science fiction!</div>
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<br /></div>
<br />Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-72632239745088899462019-04-20T09:39:00.001-07:002019-04-20T12:29:53.849-07:00Review of Cornerstone: The Delving, by K. A. Krisko<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Cornerstone: The Delving by [Krisko, K.A.]" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51IueDhjtyL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="212" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cornerstone-Delving-K-Krisko-ebook/dp/B01G3UZMUS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Cornerstone%3A+The+Delving&qid=1555778020&s=gateway&sr=8-1">https://www.amazon.com/Cornerstone-Delving-K-Krisko-ebook/dp/B01G3UZMUS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Cornerstone%3A+The+Delving&qid=1555778020&s=gateway&sr=8-1</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Here is my 5-star review of K. A. Krisko's book Cornerstone: The Delving (v.2 of the Cornerstone series)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So Rook has finally taken a form outside his cornerstone and
his castle, and I wasn’t surprised to see what that form was!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspected all along, but that’s all I’ll
say because I don’t want to be a spoiler.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ambiguity rules in the Cornerstone series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The premise isn’t in doubt: Rook is probably an
alien lifeform who was carried to Earth in some kind of space rock and found a
home in a piece of granite later used as a cornerstone of a castle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But is he a force for good or for evil?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He maintains that he wants to make the Earth
a better place, but is he trustworthy? Two groups have been fighting over his
destruction or preservation for many centuries – the Fell Ken, who support
Rook, and the Koen (Knights of Earth Natural) who want to destroy him and keep
him from changing the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So who is
right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Koen are quite willing to use
deadly force to destroy Rook and the Fell Ken, but why should we consider the
Fell Ken justified in supporting this foreboding space alien?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have nothing but his word that he isn’t
evil.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Along comes our Wizard-in-training (the Lorecaster), Lorcas
Fellken, who is a strangely passive character, who tends to go with the flow
and take the simplest path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he is
ever going to be the kind of powerful, dynamic Wizard who might confront a
balrog and cry out, “You shall not pass!” it will be far in the future.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I debated whether to give this second volume 4 stars or 5
stars partly because Lorcas is somewhat disappointing as the character – he
doesn’t evolve all that much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other
reason for a possible 4-star rating is the difficulty of figuring
out the configuration of the castle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
got lost in the castle every time I went into it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know change is endemic within the castle
structure, but still I never knew where I was.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
5 stars won out!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
decided the originality of the concept was more important than niggling
details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I plan to read v. 3 soon.</div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cornerstone-Delving-K-Krisko-ebook/dp/B01G3UZMUS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Cornerstone%3A+The+Delving&qid=1555778020&s=gateway&sr=8-1">https://www.amazon.com/Cornerstone-Delving-K-Krisko-ebook/dp/B01G3UZMUS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Cornerstone%3A+The+Delving&qid=1555778020&s=gateway&sr=8-1</a>Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-81691481168022688592017-11-05T13:31:00.000-08:002017-11-05T14:00:06.423-08:00Special Prices!<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>99-CENT SPECIAL</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>ON FIVE TERMITEWRITER BOOKS!</b></div>
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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5</div>
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THROUGH </div>
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>The Termite Queen (a 2-vol. novel)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
v.1: The Speaking of the Dead <a href="http://amzn.to/Imh3kd" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://amzn.to/Imh3kd</a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Excerpt from an Amazon review by Jack A. Urquhart</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Though the author modestly characterizes TQ as literary Sci-Fi, the description doesn't begin to capture the full flavor of Taylor's accomplishment. Rather, in TQ V 1 and 2 the author serves up a tome that crosses genres as easily as her intergalactic cast of characters crosses from real time space travel to temporal quantum space travel and back again. In fact, the complete TQ saga is part traditional love story, part epic adventure tale richly seasoned with mythic and religious overtones, as well as copious references to literary classics (each chapter is introduced by a literary epigraph). That said, it is not incidental that Taylor's epic is set in the thirtieth century (2969--2971). Hardcore Sci-fi aficionados will appreciate that Taylor's literary recipe includes science so convincingly researched and/or fabricated as to concoct a perfectly plausible and believable future.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It helps that Taylor's `future' is inhabited by a cast of engaging and believable characters--human and alien.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars: A Biographical Fiction</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Part One: Eagle Ascendant </span><a href="http://amzn.to/2iTNuUd" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">http://amzn.to/2iTNuUd</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Part Two: Wounded Eagle </span><a href="http://amzn.to/2rfAaP4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">http://amzn.to/2rfAaP4</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Part Three: Bird of Prey </span><a href="http://amzn.to/2ytDmt8" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">http://amzn.to/2ytDmt8</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Excerpts from an Amazon review of Part One by Colleen Chesebro</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-size: 15px;">The date is October 31, 2729, and Robbie Nikalishin comes roaring into a not so perfect world. As a young boy, his father instills a love of space into his young psyche. Robbie’s most prized possession is a tiny metal airplane that accompanies him through his life journey. That aircraft stands for his aspiration to become the captain of his own starship. Gifted with the ability to solve elaborate string theory mathematics, Robbie pursues his dream with a determination that propels him to the head of his college classes.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #002f36; font-size: 15px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-size: 15px;">With expert detail and descriptions, the author immerses the reader into Nikalishin’s futuristic world. This first book covers his childhood and his teen years, eventually bringing you to the peak of his flying career.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #002f36; font-size: 15px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-size: 15px;">What I loved most about Robbie’s character was how utterly human he was. From Robbie’s youth onward, I followed his experiences and saw first hand who Robbie the man became. It was a rare opportunity to witness the events that shaped a character’s personality.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #002f36; font-size: 15px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-size: 15px;">Robbie’s personality is multifaceted, and at times, he comes across as self-sabotaging and selfish. Yet, I couldn’t help but like the guy. For all of his brilliance, he possessed an innocence that tugged at my heart. Sometimes he made his life choices so difficult that I couldn’t help remembering myself at a younger age and how I didn’t make all the best decisions either. However, all of that drama only adds to the allure of Captain Robbie Nikalishin.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #002f36; font-size: 15px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-size: 15px;">I won’t kid you… this book ended with a cliffhanger of phenomenal proportions! Robbie’s story left me hungering for more and turning pages at an abnormally fast pace. I stayed up into the wee hours reading to find out happened next. My only hope is that the author, Lorinda Taylor, writes as quickly as I read. I can’t wait to see how it all comes together in the next book in the series.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #002f36; font-size: 15px;"><b>Remember - each volume is only 99 cents, one week only!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-22040397022317861072017-09-18T12:49:00.000-07:002017-09-18T12:49:58.761-07:00New 5-Star Review of The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars, Part Two: Wounded Eagle<div style="background-color: white; font-family: ff-meta-serif-web-pro-1, ff-meta-serif-web-pro-2, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 30px;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2iTNuUd">http://amzn.to/2iTNuUd</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHMacQvBBaTw_So80co3WV2Q6gWosmEZw9C78GlzLTEoaAyABqu8pIuPxer4PAvNxdEAOzWaDwDvBPaCcwLYiMkvccYx46XhD5h07grUMdiqKMVFQkFaAqcXOx5QfK0uwXADYl5v5V4Jxi/s1600/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.2+final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHMacQvBBaTw_So80co3WV2Q6gWosmEZw9C78GlzLTEoaAyABqu8pIuPxer4PAvNxdEAOzWaDwDvBPaCcwLYiMkvccYx46XhD5h07grUMdiqKMVFQkFaAqcXOx5QfK0uwXADYl5v5V4Jxi/s320/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.2+final.jpg" width="204" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2rfAaP4">http://amzn.to/2rfAaP4</a></td></tr>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Colleen
Chesebro's Review </b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>of Part Two
of</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>The Man Who
Found Birds</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>among the
Stars</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Thanks, Colleen!</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">At the
beginning of the second book in the series, we find our hero, Captain Robbin
Nikalishin regaining consciousness aboard the rescue ship Reliable. The untold
horrors of the space disaster have left the captain suffering from PTSD, along
with an all-encompassing guilt for the death of his best friend, Kolm
MaGilligoody.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Psychologically,
Robbie is in a bad place. Kolm’s death haunts him day andnight. At times, the
pain is so great he doesn’t feel he can go on. The physical damage of the crash
has also taken its toll. The captain’s appearance has suffered from the effects
of radiation poisoning, along with various bumps and bruises. These physical
signs of trauma eventually abate, leaving behind the deep scars of emotional
pain that Robbie must learn to embrace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Captain
Nikalishin discovers he has a long road ahead of him when it comes to healing
from these psychological wounds. With the help of Dr. Souray, who becomes a
surrogate mother to him, there is gradual improvement. The primary issue is
that certain things set the captain off and he reverts back to relive the horror
in a series of flashbacks. With the upcoming investigation into the crash,
Robbie must be able to testify at a hearing and a trial.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While Robbie
is undergoing extensive treatment, the issue of Prf. Karlis Eiginsh’s actions
come to the forefront of the investigation. Why did he falsify equations to
make the jump look safe when in reality it wasn’t? There is an interesting
twist to this part of the story when the truth finally comes out that gives the
reader a sneak peek into the man the captain is to become. I have to say, I
thought it was great storytelling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The book is
long, but such is Robbie’s journey to reconcile who he is and who he has
become. The mental trauma he suffered even caused him to question his desire to
fly amongst the stars, and whether he could ever cope with the stressors of
being a space captain again. Then, there are the unresolved issues Robbie has
with his mother. The signs of that first mental damage from long ago always
seem to resurface when he tries to have a relationship with a woman. Robbie’s
wounds run deep, and to actually heal, he must come to grips with his demons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I love this
series. The writing is clear and concise and draws you into the
character-driven plot. Yet, just like in the first book, I still find something
poignant and raw about Robbie Nikalishin that makes me want to know more of his
story. His character is imperfect, to say the least. I don’t know if he appeals
to the mother in me or if I just want him to find peace and love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Either way,
the author has spun a tale filled with high drama and intrigue, healing and
pain. I can’t wait to discover what happens next in book three coming soon!
Make sure to take a look at the book’s cover art. Lorinda draws and creates her
own cover art. <v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>See the review on Colleen's <a href="https://colleenchesebro.com/2017/09/18/colleens-book-reviews-the-man-who-found-birds-among-the-stars-part-two-wounded-eagle-a-biographical-fiction-by-author-lorinda-j-taylor">blog</a>!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>And check out her book</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><b>The Heart Stone Chronicles:</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Stone-Chronicles-Swamp-Fairy-ebook/dp/B01MU69MXT/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8">The Swamp Fairy </a></b></span></div>
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Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-59723092985829277802017-04-18T08:32:00.000-07:002017-04-18T08:32:41.598-07:00Advice to Neophyte Writers: Don't Try This at Home!<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiitlSEyD7pI8lAl_iNLVCrzc_ZGePnWOmHU2pPbjxy71B1B9glDSiOuIxftvOuNFxnRtqqAqr7Z3ASYgqKWYun1w2oYGoXfPsh_JtCJLK11J9yX5_qnoGl5Uoq_hOk0uSSGklPAKLo5y_E/s1600/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.1+-+front%252C+final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiitlSEyD7pI8lAl_iNLVCrzc_ZGePnWOmHU2pPbjxy71B1B9glDSiOuIxftvOuNFxnRtqqAqr7Z3ASYgqKWYun1w2oYGoXfPsh_JtCJLK11J9yX5_qnoGl5Uoq_hOk0uSSGklPAKLo5y_E/s320/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.1+-+front%252C+final.jpg" width="204" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover of Part One</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm getting good results after publishing <i>The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars, Part One: Eagle Ascendant</i>. I've already had six reviews, all of them 5 star. It seems my friend Neil Aplin was right in maintaining it would be a success. I had my doubts about publishing any of the book, because the entire piece is way longer than any book should ever be. Neil didn't think so -- he read it in manuscript and he wanted it to be even longer, and it was his enthusiastic support that convinced me to publish the beginning of it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i> Part Two: Wounded Eagle</i> is in the works; I'm revising like mad, trying to shorten it. Part One is a long book, but at least it covers the first 31.5 years of Capt. Nikalishin's life. Part Two only covers 2.5 years and it's even longer than Part One. There will be at least six more parts after that so you see my problem. The ultimate conclusion isn't even written yet.</div>
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You might be saying, how in the world could you let this happen? I've written a bit about my writing history before, but now I have new readers and Facebook friends who may not know how my writing came about, so I need to construct an apology, in the sense of a justification.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaahgQYzQqTqb1Klw4t9tOuerzi2DkQf4TDBe5ESKwss5Neau_WMMlfyjxQAGwEia631KBCijhPIxVnYAI6g6zt9HOVDn4vSXJZTZwD5mYBSAXP0Ora6PDT0PuhkDIy_e2sO49TVfkKFLg/s1600/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.2+working.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaahgQYzQqTqb1Klw4t9tOuerzi2DkQf4TDBe5ESKwss5Neau_WMMlfyjxQAGwEia631KBCijhPIxVnYAI6g6zt9HOVDn4vSXJZTZwD5mYBSAXP0Ora6PDT0PuhkDIy_e2sO49TVfkKFLg/s320/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+Pt.2+working.jpg" width="204" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sneak peak: cover for <br />
Part Two (tentative)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've always been inclined to write long. In college when the professor would assign a 20-page paper, the other students would be groaning -- how would they ever be able to make it that long? And I would be wondering how I could keep the paper under 40 pages. </div>
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I started to write fiction after I read Tolkien in 1969, and I had no real thought of publishing at that time. I simply found the act of writing to be tremendous fun. So I wrote my first endless story. It was somewhat Tolkienesque imaginary-world fantasy and it was my million-word learning process. It will never be finished and I will never publish it, but in case anyone is interested, my novel <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Children-Music-Lorinda-J-Taylor-ebook/dp/B01JSRKWK8/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1492372643&sr=8-7&keywords=lorinda+j.+taylor">Children of the Music </a>was written as a prequel to that long piece.</div>
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From 1983 through 1999 I took a hiatus from writing because of family responsibilities. Then in January of 2000 I bought my first computer, which made the act of writing infinitely easier. And I had a sudden surge of literary inspiration, beginning with "<a href="http://amzn.to/s3OT20">Monster Is in the Eye of the Beholder</a>" (a novella! Amazing!) and then <i><a href="http://amzn.to/Imh3kd">The Termite Queen</a></i> and the rest of the termite stories (I've discussed them plenty elsewhere, mostly on my other blog <a href="http://termitespeaker.blogspot.com/">The Labors of Ki'shto'ba Huge-Head</a>). I completed the sixth volume of <i>Labors</i> in July of 2003, so you can see that I wrote furiously for those 3.5 years. By that time I was a little tired of termites and even though I needed one more tale to complete the Quest, I wanted to do something else for a while. (I did manage to compose the sequel volume for the Ki'shto'ba tales in 2015 while I was on chemo.)</div>
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I should say that during this time I also never contemplated publishing -- I was simply enjoying myself too much.</div>
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And then I got the idea for <i>The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars</i>. I had invented the Bird People of the planet <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Krisí’i’aid, along with their language, for <i>The Termite Queen</i>, and I decided it would be interesting to write about the first contact with the </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;">Krisí’i’aida, which had occurred a couple of centuries earlier. How about writing a biography of the spaceship Captain who made the first contact? This would also give me a chance to develop my future history to an extent greater than I had been able to do in TQ. I never intended for the piece to be so long or so detailed, but it was one of those stories that just grew like a clump of mushrooms. And again, with no intent to publish, I </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;">paid</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;">absolutely no attention to the length. (A really serious mistake -- again I say to beginning writers: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!) I started writing in Nov</span>ember of 2003 and worked on that thing until January of 2011, when it suddenly hit me that I was 70 years old. If I ever wanted anyone else to read my books, I'd better suspend writing and focus on publishing. So I began to work up "Monster Is in the Eye of the Beholder," self-publishing it in November of 2011, and that was followed by <i>The Termite Queen</i> and the Ki'shto'ba series -- and the rest is history, as they say.</div>
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So what was I going to do with all that manuscript for <i>The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars</i>? (By the way, that was not the original title, but I don't seem to have recorded the original title anywhere and unfortunately I can't remember what it was. Once I thought of MWFB, it seemed perfect and I never looked back.) I decided to publish excerpts from the book on my blog -- those excerpts are still here, on this very blog, but they've been radically altered in the final form of the book. My friend Neil Aplin was mesmerized by those excerpts and so I agreed to email him longer pieces of the book. He continued to be crazy about it and finally he convinced me to begin to working over the piece for publication.</div>
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At one point I considered getting a professional editor to shorten it. I'm sure a professional could do that -- just take shears and whack away. But then it wouldn't be my book and I think I would have an apoplexy trying to deal with that person no matter how tactful and truly interested they were. Nope, that doesn't work for me. I'm not concerned with becoming a bestseller, and it costs me nothing but time to self-publish, especially since I do my own covers. However, I do like for people to read what I write and enjoy and comment on it. I'll take my chances that the lengthiness may exhaust my readers' patience.</div>
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So I think the world is stuck with something no writer is supposed to do -- an interminable novel cut into many segments, each one too long in itself. That's why I call them Part One, Part Two, etc. It suggests a single story rather than a series. I made that mistake with <i>The Termite Queen</i>. It was too long for one volume, but it is really all one story, and by designating the halves v.1 and v.2 rather that Pt.1 and Pt.2, I made people think it was a series and too many people have stopped reading after v.1 and so don't get the full effect. The Ki'shto'ba books really constitute a serial rather than a series, but the volume designations seem to fit OK in their case.</div>
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So here are the upcoming volumes in the endless progression of MWFB:</div>
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<a href="http://amzn.to/2iTNuUd">Part One: Eagle Ascendant </a>(already published)</div>
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Part Two: Wounded Eagle (being edited)</div>
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Part Three: High Feather</div>
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Part Four: Survivor</div>
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Part Five: Phenix (this is the one that requires drastic cutting -- <a href="http://amzn.to/2eoN0jv">Fathers and Demons</a> was extracted [and will be cut] from that section)</div>
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Part Six: Rare Birds (still experimental)</div>
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Part Seven + : ??? not written yet!</div>
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Do you think any reader can survive all that? Do you think I can live long enough to actually accomplish the required editing? I had some other books I wanted to write, too. Sounds hopeless! Anyway, I just wanted everyone to know how this all came about and warn them about what might be coming. I beg your indulgence! At least you've seemed to enjoy Part One. Who knows? Maybe you'll enjoy the other parts just as much!</div>
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Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-5800187408959378252017-02-06T08:26:00.000-08:002017-02-06T08:26:43.122-08:00Two New 5-Star Reviews on The Man Who Found Birds, Part One<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-NXaOgfklfgs2RTbU29FplJ-alGDTJpW-K3xOnp-2nMnukTB9Qdx31xpX3s0sD8BQbbg5UY_HmaTAzaB8-jEUyqUiLcGIF7XfuW2TxIllz3dw3v5HOAm7XFfN8F0lcYUwZr-XTeIZNIVz/s1600/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+v.1%252C+front%252C+final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-NXaOgfklfgs2RTbU29FplJ-alGDTJpW-K3xOnp-2nMnukTB9Qdx31xpX3s0sD8BQbbg5UY_HmaTAzaB8-jEUyqUiLcGIF7XfuW2TxIllz3dw3v5HOAm7XFfN8F0lcYUwZr-XTeIZNIVz/s320/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+v.1%252C+front%252C+final.jpg" width="204" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2iTNuUd">http://amzn.to/2iTNuUd</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>Here are the texts of two great reviews on Amazon:</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Science fiction epic!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> An epic of true Taylor proportions! In the 28th century world of the future created as home to our hero Robbie Nikalishin we share all his trials and tribulations as he seeks to fulfil his ambition to fly to the stars. As with all Taylor's characters we are faced with our own shortcomings and weaknesses despite the distances of time and space that separate us from Robbie and his compañeros. A page-turner of a book - impossible to relinquish until the pages run out ... leaving us hungry for more.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<b>What a ride!!! More, please!</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2G4jfZm9nOiJrmBibEn94WPk_zKqstDpDQf6boOpU0JZpJzaG4mLYztFRRQ2SXC4HAChUzp0KuQsPaKljxTxlLhQB6DEuXZFlvgG1MmHMJqwjLFj_zn6KiLLWBlGcpqDZyboe7RXhWBDt/s1600/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+v.1%252C+back%252C++final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2G4jfZm9nOiJrmBibEn94WPk_zKqstDpDQf6boOpU0JZpJzaG4mLYztFRRQ2SXC4HAChUzp0KuQsPaKljxTxlLhQB6DEuXZFlvgG1MmHMJqwjLFj_zn6KiLLWBlGcpqDZyboe7RXhWBDt/s320/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+v.1%252C+back%252C++final.jpg" width="204" /></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"> This may be the best book I have read in the last ten years. Certainly it is the best science fiction book I have read since Mary Dorian Russell's "The Sparrow" and "Children of God" books. Please, PLEASE, Ms. Taylor, write the sequel soon!</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
This is a story of flawed heroes and perfect plot, of hard science and tender hearts. It is intelligently written, fantastic entertainment for the imagination, fascinating, and the characters are very three-dimensional. There is excitement, humor, adventure, and exploration not only of quantum physics but of the human spirit, all against a backdrop of an all too plausible future.</div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
The only complaint anyone could possibly have with this gem of a story is that the sequel isn't here yet. Eagerly awaiting the next part of the saga.</div>
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This isn't the first time my books have been compared to Mary Doria Russell's. Here is a paragraph from a review of Monster Is in the Eye of the Beholder, written way back in January, 2012:</div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Lorinda J. Taylor's imaginative and entertaining science-fiction novella, Monster Is in the Eye of the Beholder, reminded this reader of Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow (1996). Both works are first-contact stories that turn on what happens when human beings, acting with best intentions, behave in ways that cause catastrophic damage. Doria Russell and Taylor both explore the nature of good and evil, cultural difference, and prejudice, and both choose to tell their stories, for the most part, in framed flashbacks.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><b>Buy all my books here:</b></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><a href="http://amzn.to/u9bYWa">Amazon</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: start;"><a href="http://amzn.to/KdNtR1">Amazon UK</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/TermiteWriter">Smashwords</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bit.ly/1Lz1NRQ">Barnes & Noble</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: start;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
</span></span>Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-45212433104348162612017-01-07T08:43:00.000-08:002017-01-07T08:43:58.067-08:00The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars - Now Published!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJHrazLus3GAgRyUsAuEdIejS270pVXbELpUGu8_YWrPy1HtI6oQ1QDEXBGXcB7TV0she7kYqzgRP5bk19yv5Yr86OHPavvRULq525zvbQPqWOQGfpFaGXNRTf3-d7zEXqQm52WOJbiVS/s1600/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+v.1%252C+back%252C++final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJHrazLus3GAgRyUsAuEdIejS270pVXbELpUGu8_YWrPy1HtI6oQ1QDEXBGXcB7TV0she7kYqzgRP5bk19yv5Yr86OHPavvRULq525zvbQPqWOQGfpFaGXNRTf3-d7zEXqQm52WOJbiVS/s320/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+v.1%252C+back%252C++final.jpg" width="204" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZ6gyMhTyCRnAd0e2Q75h3oKi6cE8IynR_ExXO6Ru32k7zaYH3PKIWVaL_Pa_gPDLr3tNoX1S9nhG3p4k-QSATqkfH0n6Lr7Rx6d9kGlz6v0fPoHNTdd5xGquhiSu5dBlStSdHawakl2X/s1600/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+v.1%252C+front%252C+final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZ6gyMhTyCRnAd0e2Q75h3oKi6cE8IynR_ExXO6Ru32k7zaYH3PKIWVaL_Pa_gPDLr3tNoX1S9nhG3p4k-QSATqkfH0n6Lr7Rx6d9kGlz6v0fPoHNTdd5xGquhiSu5dBlStSdHawakl2X/s320/Cover%252C+MWFB%252C+v.1%252C+front%252C+final.jpg" width="204" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>THE MAN WHO</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>FOUND </b><b>BIRDS</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>AMONG THE STARS</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>PART ONE</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>EAGLE ASCENDANT</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Special </b><b>price:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> only </b><b>99 cents</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>until the Launch</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Party </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/381790522213347/?ref=1&action_history=%5B%7B%22surface%22%3A%22permalink%22%2C%22mechanism%22%3A%22surface%22%2C%22extra_data%22%3A%5B%5D%7D%5D">Launch Party</a> to be </b><b>held on Saturday,</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>January 14, 2017, </b><b>on Facebook</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>You may </b><b>win a </b><b>FREE Copy!</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>You'll love this book</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>if you like biography and you like space heroes who have flaws, and</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>if you're interested in my version of the future history of Earth.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Buy at</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Found-Birds-among-Stars-Part-ebook/dp/B01N0YBDYF/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1483807096&sr=8-3&keywords=lorinda+j.+taylor">Amazon (US)</a> (note pbk and Kindle haven't been linked yet)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/694679">Smashwords</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Like all my other books, I began this one years ago; I found older versions of the MS that were created in 2005, and I continued writing no matter how long it became. After I began to self-publish my books, this one remained on the back burner because its length had gotten out of hand and it still wasn't finished. I put up some samples on this blog and one person who read them was ecstatic about the piece. I proceeded to send him the MS and he read the whole darn thing and urged me to publish it. So -- I'm making a beginning on that, even though the entire opus still isn't finished.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A lot of you have been reading lines from Part One on the Twitter hashtag author games lately, and others have seen excerpts on certain Facebook events like Tidbit Tuesday. I hope this has whetted your desire to read the entire book.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Also, some of you have read an extract from a later part of <i>Man Who Found Birds</i>, which I published as <i>Fathers and Demons</i>. The current offering gives you the earliest history of the Captain who appears in that book.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here is the description that you'll find on Amazon and Smashwords (an expansion of the blurb on the back cover above):</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
Robbin Haysus Nikalishin was born on 31
October of the year 2729 and ultimately became the first starship Captain to
make contact with extraterrestrials.
This fictionalized biography, composed 50 years after Nikalishin’s
death, recounts the first 31 years of the life of a man who is hailed as one of
Earth’s greatest heroes. During this portion of his life he enjoyed many triumphs,
joys, and loves, but he was not immune to failure and tragedy. In 2761 a major space disaster completely
changes the course of his life. Whether
it will be for better or worse is left for the reader to decide.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
All heroes are human beings and all human
beings are flawed, and the man the Earth came to know as “Capt. Robbie” was a
very human man. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-66404552868829472752017-01-02T07:59:00.000-08:002017-01-02T13:21:49.635-08:00The Precepts: No. 6 in my New Series of Mythmaker Posts<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpFLQyCQE6KKQ7dTCcq6wfAWW8xs_AVUNB5gEPADityOWHCj1d0buyFeGNQ57DKIAxDYvzYtYaLZLDZxvt35hP6jtcTblgvpqobJJFkyTuM8TVYr1lLDDPkWmsz5VOYeFVNOuVhC8j2_Xk/s1600/Ethics+meme%252C+from+Pixabay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpFLQyCQE6KKQ7dTCcq6wfAWW8xs_AVUNB5gEPADityOWHCj1d0buyFeGNQ57DKIAxDYvzYtYaLZLDZxvt35hP6jtcTblgvpqobJJFkyTuM8TVYr1lLDDPkWmsz5VOYeFVNOuVhC8j2_Xk/s320/Ethics+meme%252C+from+Pixabay.jpg" width="313" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
So how did I come up with these Precepts? I’m really not quite sure. I only know that somewhere back when I was composing
<i>The Termite Queen</i>, or maybe even
earlier (when I was writing “Monster Is in the Eye of the Beholder”), I started
writing them down. It’s almost like they
just emerged from the void. I knew I was
creating a humanistic civilization and I felt guidelines were needed. The only revision I’ve done recently involves
the final four or five, which I reordered and renumbered. This has caused some of the numbering to be
off in my previously published books, I’m afraid, and if I ever update those
books, I’ll fix that, but I figure nobody will pay much attention, since the
whole list of Precepts doesn’t appear in those publications. Everything should be correct in <i>The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
The list begins by dealing with religions and gradually
progresses to what it means to be human.
Most of the ethical material is in the middle along with the nature and
value of science and art. The order is
pretty arbitrary, however. </div>
<span style="text-align: justify;"> All I'm doing in this post is presenting the list so you can get
acquainted with the Precepts. Remember, they are
not meant to be laws or rigid rules – they are meant to be guidelines, capable
of interpretation. They are intended to
make you think. In subsequent posts, I
intend to discuss the individual precepts, some in groups and some as
stand-alones. In the meantime, I welcome any comments or questions.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b>The Mythmaker Precepts</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 1: No
one can know deity; neither can it be proven that it does not exist.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 2:
Humans have within themselves the ability to see beyond themselves and hence to
act rightly without supernatural stimulus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 3:
Since the purpose of deity for humans, or even whether it had a purpose for
humans, is unknowable, it is incumbent upon humans to look within themselves
and find the way to right action.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 4:
Humans must take responsibility for their own behavior, not seeking to put
blame on imposed rules (of deity or human) or on fate, chance, or the
intervention or willfulness of deity.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 5:
Humans will never succeed absolutely in achieving these goals; nevertheless
striving for right action is its own purpose.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 6:
The closest humans can attain to deity is the symbolism of myth and art.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 7: If
a human have nothing else, it has its own soul, which must remain inviolate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 8:
Science has a soul; technology is soulless.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 9:
Conduct your wars with words, not weapons.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 10:
The Right Way is universal; the Truth is parochial and divisive.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 11:
Institutions that grip souls merely for the purpose of gripping souls will
always become destructive.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 12:
To achieve understanding of the unlike is a divine goal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 13:
Love is as unknowable as deity, but every soul attests that it exists.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 14:
Let men and women make the vows of love in the music of the bedchamber, not with
empty words.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 15:
Evolution has failed to structure the human organism for moderation;
nevertheless the ability to recognize and strive for this virtue distinguishes
human beings from other animals. [Corollary: The human
organism is not innately a peaceful animal, but its ability to recognize and
strive for peace sets it apart from other animals.] [Corollary: Moderation
promotes peace.]<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 16:
Animals neither punish, seek revenge, forgive, nor blaspheme, nor recognize a
need for any of these things.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 17:
Study history and learn from it, but look to the future and do not let yourself
be trapped by nostalgia or revenge. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 18:
There are creatures on this planet [<i>amended later to</i> in the
universe] who speak, form symbols, and share emotions; these may be called
human.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 19:
The humans of our planet are all the same species; therefore they should care
for one another and avoid the destruction of their own kind.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.3in;">
Precept No. 20:
Since humans share their genetic heritage with all the bio-organisms of this
planet [and of the universe – <i>amendment added later</i>], they should
always seek to preserve life.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: #faecec; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; text-align: center; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">Previous posts in this series:</span></div>
<div style="background-color: #faecec; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; text-align: center; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"><a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/11/what-can-we-expect-from-future-my-new.html" style="color: #7b7b7b; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 28.8px;">No. 1: What Can We Expect from the Future?</a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #faecec; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; text-align: center; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"><a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/11/how-will-humanity-lift-itself-out-of.html" style="color: #e2009b; text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">No. 2: How Will Humanity Lift Itself out of the Second Dark Age?</a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #faecec; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; text-align: center; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"><a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/11/humans-are-all-same-species-no-3-in-my.html" style="color: #7b7b7b; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 28.8px;">No. 3: Humans Are All the Same Species!</a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #faecec; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; text-align: center; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"><a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-mythmaker-canon-no-4-in-my-new.html" style="color: #7b7b7b; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 28.8px;">N</a><a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-mythmaker-canon-no-4-in-my-new.html" style="color: #7b7b7b; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.3in;">o. 4: The Mythmaker Canon</a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #faecec; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; text-align: center; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-valley-of-white-bear-no-5-in-my-new.html">No. 5: The Valley of the White Bear</a></div>
<div style="background-color: #faecec; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; text-align: center; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-81279279040727399062016-12-10T09:38:00.001-08:002016-12-10T09:38:37.777-08:00The Valley of the White Bear: No. 5 in my New Series of Mythmaker Posts<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmpAsHDcX-_xJqkFhe74cqUAGNszQoLXfWRbvwzPLvRDt0jMYujKgmOkgra3T1ZLFFYoNV8uiisCLQdvK0ATi02ge93pkSv8F_vm-u810PFXTwSGXL9jlxhhzkNXoBI_hggmhufsPlkqx2/s1600/Starving+Polar+Bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmpAsHDcX-_xJqkFhe74cqUAGNszQoLXfWRbvwzPLvRDt0jMYujKgmOkgra3T1ZLFFYoNV8uiisCLQdvK0ATi02ge93pkSv8F_vm-u810PFXTwSGXL9jlxhhzkNXoBI_hggmhufsPlkqx2/s320/Starving+Polar+Bear.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Starving Polar Bear </span><br />
Kerstin Langenberger Photography<br />
from https://www.thedodo.com/emaciated-polar-bear-1330557679.htm<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
The best introduction to this universally acclaimed
Mythmaker drama is contained in the following extract from The Termite Queen, v.1. Griffen Gwidian is an entomologist
and chief of the expedition to the termite planet; Kaitrin Oliva is the
linguistic anthropologist charged with learning how to communicate with the
termite extraterrestrials. The two of
them are falling in love, and during this time they attend several stage
productions, including one of <i>The White
Bear</i>.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><i style="text-indent: 0.3in;">The Valley of the White Bear</i><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> was an
intense allegorical fantasy of the responsibilities that human beings bear
toward one another and toward the world that gives them life. It was the most beloved of all the literature
in the Mythmaker canon, and the most widely studied. The present rendition was a holotheater
production; the settings and fantastic characters were holoimages while the
human parts were performed by live actors. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<div class="MsoBodyText2CxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;">
Kaitrin and Gwidian emerged
from the performance discussing the technical merits of the show, including the
effectiveness of the hologram of the god/goddess Hasta. Gwidian found it to be static and lacking in
warmth, while Kaitrin felt that the size and austerity ensured the correct overpowering
effect.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2CxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
“I’m never comfortable when
gods intrude into Mythmaker lit,” Gwidian said.
“The agenda of those writers was to persuade humanity to take ethical
responsibility for its own actions rather than to blame its transgressions on infractions
of arbitrary rules laid down by some religious or political entity. A principle of behavior that our kind tended
to ignore in ages past, to Earth’s detriment.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2CxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
“I don’t know that one ought to apply the word
‘agenda’ to the Mythmakers,” said Kaitrin.
“There were so many of them, living over such a long period in so many
different parts of the Earth, that it’s doubtful many of them even knew of the
others’ existence, let alone exchanged ideas.
They didn’t compose the Precepts, after all – those were a later
formulation extracted from a study of the whole Mythmaker canon by a bunch of
social philosophers. The writers with
the loftiest imaginations, like No. 96, produced works that stand beautifully
on their own without a lot of sententious reinterpretation. And the god-figures are all symbolic. As I recall, when Hasta first appears, the
stage directions say only something like ‘Ingreaf sees on the top of the
mountain a shape with a light in it, which speaks to him.’ That’s why so many different interpretations
of it are possible – why producing it on the stage never gets old. But basically it embodies the overarching Principle
of Life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2CxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
“And then the White Bear itself
is the form the soul of nature takes so that human beings can interact with it. It’s generally acknowledged that <i>The White Bear</i> was the foundation for
Precept No. 20 – <i>Everything in the
universe shares in the principle of life, hence we have a moral obligation not
to destroy life in our infinitesimal portion of the universe.</i> I’ve always found the end of the play to be
so moving – that juxtaposition of destruction and regeneration!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2CxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
“You explicate the play very
well! But if it’s all symbolic, why call
Hasta something as concrete as god/goddess?”</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2CxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">“Well, isn’t the Principle of
Life sort of what a deity is supposed to be?</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">Something larger than ourselves – larger and more powerful than anything
we can know even with the most advanced science.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">The Mythmakers weren’t hidebound atheists,
you know.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">None of them ever rejected
deity categorically; they simply averred that neither its existence nor its
non-existence can be proved.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">That’s why
this trend toward deifying the Mythmakers seems misguided to me.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">I’m quite sure they didn’t see themselves as
beings whose existence could be neither proved nor disproved!</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">Although they did succeed spectacularly well in
remaining anonymous!”</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
There
is more to this extract, but I’ll save it for a later post. As an aside, let me just quote the following
from MWFB:</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
Robbin
Nikalishin’s Professor of moral philosophy Alise Doone (whose hobby is acting)
says in MWFB, Part One: “I’ve done the voice of Hasta in <i>The White Bear</i> three times for the Consortium. Apparently our director prefers to interpret
the esteemed god/goddess as a sexless hag with a quirky Scotts burr, although
once I played it as a moon figure with a quirky Scotts burr.” </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpFirst" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
It’s
my plan to actually write <i>The White Bear </i>someday,
although I’m not sure I’m up to writing something that’s considered equivalent
to Shakespeare! But I also intend to
write the story of the author of <i>The
White Bear</i>, which will be my only dystopian tale. I’m not sure I’ll ever get that written
either, but I’m still not going to tell you anything about that sad story
because I don’t want to spoil it in case I do write it. I’ll only say that <i>The White Bear’</i>s author became fascinated by the story of how
Earth’s polar bear was destroyed when climate change eliminated its habitat and
he turns this into a whole set of symbolic circumstances. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
The
play exists in only two slightly variant manuscripts, discovered within five
years of each other in Archivists’ caches. The first was found in what is
called in the 21st century New Mexico, and the other came to light much further
south in Mexico. Given that the setting
is the far northern reaches of the North American continent, it’s assumed that
the author lived somewhere in the middle of that continent and that Archivists
carried his/her works south during a migration.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
While I won't tell you any more about the author, I <i>am</i>
going to summarize the plot of the drama itself. I have quite a few notes on that subject.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">This
</span><b style="text-indent: 0.3in;">plot line</b><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> came to me on 11/24/04,
with some additions at 2/7/06. </span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
Ingreaf (the names of the characters all have
symbolic significance) is a technical scientist working in the domain of the
Great Northern Techno-Warlord; his name is Stranja (pronounced “strange-uh”
because his kind should be considered alien to the Earth) and he rules all of
Noonavik and parts of Midammerik. He
holds a competition to develop an invincible robotic warrior, so Ingreaf
concocts a mechanical bear that he covers with fake white fur because he has always
been fascinated with the tales of a time before the Sun-Scorch when magnificent
white bears roamed the now-vanished ice sheets of the North. He names it Luco, from the ancient root
meaning “light,” a name people ridicule – a robotic warrior should be dark and
menacing.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
He
doesn’t give this robot the power of speech (note Precept No. 18, specifying
what it means to be human: Humans speak,
form symbols, share emotions), but he does give it the power to understand and
obey voice commands. But as he lives
with this monstrosity, he begins to get fascinated with it and it begins to
become more human to him. They form a
sort of reluctant bond. Ingreaf is a
lonely man and he keeps Luco in his bedroom and talks to it, coming to wonder
why it doesn’t respond. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
Finally
the day comes for the robotic-warrior competition, where the Warlord requires
that the robots kill a man. Luco does
this so easily that it wins the competition, but as Ingreaf watches, he
realizes he’s made a terrible mistake – he should never have created a
killer. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">He takes Luco and flees into the
wilderness, ending up in a valley at the foot of a peak called Hasta’s
Mountain, named for a mythical god/goddess.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">(Hasta in Spanish means “until,” emphasizing the fact that Life is a process,
not a static given.) </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">The valley is
inhabited by the ghost of a real extinct white bear, a cadaverous apparition
which obviously met its death by starvation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">As Ingreaf and Luco wander, they keep
catching glimpses of something in the forest, haunting them, shadowing
them.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">They catch glimpses of something
glimmering pale among the trees, and they hear noises, growls, whimpers.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">One night it’s particularly bad and there is
a scrambling in the bushes and Luco runs off in protective mode and leaves his
master alone. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">At that point, Luco is
representing the survival instinct, the desire of Life to survive at whatever
cost.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">While he’s gone, Ingreaf sits by
their fire terrified, and then there is this long silence (Ingreaf may speak
part of his on-going soliloquy at that point).</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">When Luco returns, he no longer has just red lights for eyes, he has
acquired actual bear eyes.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">This is the beginning of the
metamorphosis – the merging of humanity with the natural.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">And it’s after this that they first hear
Hasta speaking to them.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">Gradually Luco
acquires more and more characteristics of the ghost as the metamorphosis
continues.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">And then finally Ingreaf
develops to where he can actually see the Bear – the emaciated, dying bear as
it was before it became only a spirit.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">Luco
has merged with the actual Bear, staring at its Creator and pleading for
understanding.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">Finally, Luco attacks Ingreaf,
who by now had come to accept his role as sacrificial victim. He saves the humanity
of the world by allowing Luco as White Bear (nature incarnate) to eat him and
become strong again, affirming the renewal process of nature.</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
When
Ingreaf decides to save the Bear by feeding him with his own body, he stretches
out his hand and cuts the wrist with his knife and the Luco/Bear laps the
blood, then approaches and seizes the hand in his mouth. The stage goes black, except for a glow where
Hasta lives, and there is absolutely silence.
Finally the lights are gradually brought up again and the Bear stands
there triumphantly at full living strength on its hind legs while a naked,
emaciated, and semi-transparent Ingreaf sits on a rock, a ghost himself now. Between them is a collection of bones and
bits of clothing. They stare at each
other and then the White Bear swells larger and vanishes into the forest,<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"> </span>symbolizing the
impossibility of destruction of the natural.
Ingreaf cries out, “Luco, come back to me! I have given you my all – will you abandon
me?” But a compassionate Hasta says, <i>Ingreaf, come to the top of the mountain and
let the Bear pass on its way. The cock
is about to crow. </i>The sound of a
crowing cock is heard, symbolizing a return to reality, and Ingreaf rises
slowly and commences to trudge up toward the light. Final curtain.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
Another parenthetical
note to close: <span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">I use the crowing cock symbolism in
MWFB, in a later section that isn’t even remotely ready to be published.</span><br />
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">In the next post, I'll present the Precepts and begin an analysis.</span><br />
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">Previous posts in this series:</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"><a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/11/what-can-we-expect-from-future-my-new.html" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">No. 1: What Can We Expect from the Future?</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"><a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/11/how-will-humanity-lift-itself-out-of.html" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">No. 2: How Will Humanity Lift Itself out of the Second Dark Age?</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"><a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/11/humans-are-all-same-species-no-3-in-my.html" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">No. 3: Humans Are All the Same Species!</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;"><a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-mythmaker-canon-no-4-in-my-new.html" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">N</a><a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-mythmaker-canon-no-4-in-my-new.html" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">o. 4: The Mythmaker Canon</a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-8658254869652645232016-12-05T08:58:00.001-08:002016-12-09T13:25:50.847-08:00The Mythmaker Canon: No. 4 in my New Series of Mythmaker Posts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF7BdKenADPeDiyAmggqZsjMUi2cp1eIDmSfvP-vnalsaznYBJzhzL08f4e6DSa1p3ztVMrXJum7-G_2yprUhWInVEUVSIJ5NrXXP2mx7JjKjmlHD74idTrmgXEQF_BkcBA-9ea_kWrL6w/s1600/Dancers+Pete+Linforth+Pixabay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF7BdKenADPeDiyAmggqZsjMUi2cp1eIDmSfvP-vnalsaznYBJzhzL08f4e6DSa1p3ztVMrXJum7-G_2yprUhWInVEUVSIJ5NrXXP2mx7JjKjmlHD74idTrmgXEQF_BkcBA-9ea_kWrL6w/s320/Dancers+Pete+Linforth+Pixabay.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Suitable Illustration for <i>Las Almas qui bailaron</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">(Dancing Souls) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">by Pete Linforth on Pixabay</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In an earlier post I
mentioned that during the Second Dark Age (mostly in the 25th and 26th
centuries), a group of writers and artists (later called the Mythmakers) arose
out of the preservers of culture who were known as the Underground
Archivists. Fantasy was their genre of
choice –for what is fantasy but myth and myth but fantasy? – and the writers
remained totally anonymous even into the 30th century. As their works came to light, they were
studied by the scholars of the day and became the basis for the humanist ethic
of the 27th century and beyond.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I thought it would
be enlightening to put a little flesh on these unknown artists before we go on
to discuss their philosophy. They were
given numbers according to when they were discovered, not by when they wrote. About 100 individuals are known. The breakdown of the Mythmaker Canon is as
follows: </div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
197 pieces of
literature (dramas, novels and shorter narratives, narrative poems)</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
681 lyric poems, 97
with musical settings</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
213 pieces of
graphic art</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
89 major musical
compositions</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
8 operas</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
Some of them have
been cited in my published and unpublished books. Here is a sampling with some
examples from my fiction.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: .3in;">
<b>Mythmaker
27: </b>Kaitrin refers to him/her in <i>The Termite Queen</i>, v.1, ch. 21, as “one of the gentle ones who wrote for children.” In a later part of <i>The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars</i> (hereafter referred to as
MWFB), I spoke of the Mythmaker clown Tiffis, a character in a
children’s play by Mythmaker 27 called “Conjunctions: Ifs, Ands, and Buts.” A popular children’s ditty called “The If
Song” comes from this, Unfortunately,
I’m cutting out the character who referred to this song in MWFB because of
length considerations. That character
was expendable. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: .3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<b> Mythmaker 46</b>
composed a triad of beautiful love poems that have been frequently set to
music.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<b>Mythmaker
50</b> was a musical composer who wrote the oratorio entitled <i>Temporal Resurrection.</i> It will be mentioned in Part Two of MWFB at
an honors ceremony: </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
“The Protocol Chief
said, ‘Gentlemen and ladies, as a conclusion to our ceremony today, the Senior
Choir of Karlinius University will sing the fugal chant from the oratorio <i>Temporal Resurrection</i>, by Mythmaker 50.’</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
“As the sweeping lines
and staccato accents of that magnificent composition filled the silent Hall,
Robbie sat with his head bowed.”<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
Parenthetically,
when Robbin is planning his wedding in a later part of MWFB, here is some advice
he receives on what music or readings would be appropriate:</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
“<b>Mythmaker
50</b> wrote some beautiful nuptial songs called ‘The Epithalamia’ that can be
sung to a big orchestra or electronic background or just a little guitar
accompaniment. And <b>Mythmaker 46</b> composed a triad of beautiful love poems that have
been set lots of ways, but they can just be recited, too.”</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .1in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">Furthermore in MWFB a
Mythmaker opera is mentioned called </span><i style="text-indent: 0.3in;">Las
Almas que bailaron </i><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">(the souls who danced, or dancing souls -- see picture at top of this post), and it
includes a wedding tune called the “Laughing March.” No Mythmaker number is mentioned, however,
although if I keep this part of the story, I might add it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<b>Mythmaker 85:</b> He is believed
to be a Jew, and he was one of the later ones to be discovered. Here is a passage from <i>Fathers and Demons</i> (extract from a later part of MWFB) where
Mythmaker 85 is discussed:</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
It was Chaim who
returned to the topic that Lazy had introduced.
“Are either of you gentlemen familiar with the work of the Mythmaker
designated No. 85?”</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
Robbie and Yow looked
at each other. “I can’t say I am right
off,” said Lazy. [...]</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
“The Mythmakers were
numbered in the order in which they were discovered, so obviously No. 85 came
to light late, but it is thought the author lived at a much earlier time and
was perhaps even the very first one of them to write. Those scholars you mentioned have identified
him as a Jue by his style and by various references, and it’s believed he may
have written in the second half of the 24th century, shortly after the founding
of New Verser. He wrote only one known
work – an Inge fantasy called <i>The Book of
New Consecration</i>.” </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
“Blasphemy, Chaim!”
said Ben-Ari in obvious distress. “There
can be no new <i>Torah</i>!”</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
“May HaShem forbid I
would equate it with <i>Torah</i>,
Natan! But I insist you allow me to say
my piece, because the work has much merit!
Now I’m going to say the Inge form of the Name and you and Ely can stop
your ears if it bothers you. The
narrator who speaks this tale is Jehovah – there! – that is, God himself – and
the gist of it is that the whole of Earth is consecrated land and humanity
doesn’t need to look back in nostalgia and vengeance, trying to find the entire
meaning of life in what occurred in one small place and time.” </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
“You know, I <i>have</i> heard of that one,” said Dr. Yow,
“although I’ve never read it. That was
the work that spurred the composition of the 17th Precept.” [Study history and
learn from it, but look to the future and do not let yourself be trapped by
nostalgia or revenge.]</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
“Exactly! Mythmaker No. 85 actually speaks of Jerusalem
and the Holy Land of Tzion, and what he says is, we make our own Temples and
our own Jerusalems wherever we may go.
By that author’s lights, this piece of Earth on which we are sitting at
this very moment is the Land of Tzion and the Temple in its center is Jerusalem,
even as we named it. Who knows? Perhaps that writer was aware of what we had
done here in Istria and took his inspiration from it. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
“So when we say, ‘Have
you been to Jerusalem this <i>Shabbat</i>?’
it has validity beyond simply a name, because it implies that wherever we go,
we stand on consecrated ground. We know
that at least for centuries to come, nobody will set foot in the original
Jerusalem, and maybe that will never happen.
If someone could walk there, they would find nothing, anyway – not one tree
or rose bush or living thing – not one stone standing on another, or even any
stone that has not been superheated and fused into glass. Human cultures have to adapt or be
extinguished. We can love and keep and
honor the old ways, but we must look to honor and preserve life above all
else.” </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<b>Mythmaker 89</b> wrote operas and oratorios in Inge in the early 26th
century; he wrote the oratorio call <i>Striving</i>
that was first performed at the celebrations surrounding the ratification of
the Unification Charter in 2690. The
“Planetary Anthem,” Earth’s official song, was adapted from that work. Here it is referred to in Part One of MWFB,
in the scene where the Starchasers are welcomed home after their first
triumphant flight beyond the solar system:</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
“The avenues of New
Washinten were dense with enthusiastic spectators who had come from all over
the world to welcome home their heroes.
The people cheered and waved banners and tossed confetti and flowers as
bands along the route played enthusiastic renditions of the <i>Planetary Anthem</i>. The line <i>Look
back for warning, look ahead for wonder</i> had never seemed more
appropriate.”<br />
It is referred to in other
places as well.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<b>Mythmaker 96</b>:</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
Arguably the most
important of the lot, this writer composed the drama <i>The Valley of the White Bear</i>, considered the greatest piece of
writing in the Canon. I’ve decided to
put my discussion of this piece in the next post, because if I include it here,
the post will be too long.<br />
<br />
<br />
Links to other posts in this series:<br />
<div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/11/what-can-we-expect-from-future-my-new.html" style="text-indent: 28.8px;">No. 1: What Can We Expect from the Future?</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/11/how-will-humanity-lift-itself-out-of.html" style="text-indent: 28.8px;">No. 2: How Will Humanity Lift Itself out of the Second Dark Age?</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/11/humans-are-all-same-species-no-3-in-my.html" style="text-indent: 28.8px;">No. 3: Humans Are All the Same Species!</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<br />Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-11322427576705458192016-11-26T08:13:00.000-08:002016-12-09T13:25:16.572-08:00Humans Are All the Same Species! No. 3 in my New Series of Mythmaker Posts<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DPtUxg1NTnThqWKrkGRqrzOUQhN4i6tp4VtnKsIpjSYuglEMYfvF6tRq-zSW68BXJoAsk5rNK83Z4ZZJqE7ELw6VTGfPBC5hI9w4-jkPnJAtlpa8Au8l6dPbAji0kzT0-p-_q49_R5iU/s1600/deoxyribonucleic-acid-from+Pixabay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DPtUxg1NTnThqWKrkGRqrzOUQhN4i6tp4VtnKsIpjSYuglEMYfvF6tRq-zSW68BXJoAsk5rNK83Z4ZZJqE7ELw6VTGfPBC5hI9w4-jkPnJAtlpa8Au8l6dPbAji0kzT0-p-_q49_R5iU/s320/deoxyribonucleic-acid-from+Pixabay.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">DNA: Humans are all the same species!</span><br />
From <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Pixabay</span><br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
I
had decided to review some of my notes on who the Mythmakers were before I
wrote about the Precepts, but this distressing upsurge of racism and bigotry
during the campaign and after the Presidential election made it seem imperative
to touch on that subject first. Suddenly
we’ve once again received a license to hate the unlike, a really ominous
phenomenon. Who would have thought the
progress made during the last half-century was so fragile?</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
I’ve
touched on this subject before in one of my earlier posts <span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">(</span><a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2011/12/whats-in-name-alien-or-extraterrestrial.html" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">You Say Alien and I Say Extraterrestrial</a><span style="text-indent: 0.3in;">) and I’m going to begin by quoting from that piece:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
“‘Alien’
carries a lot of unfavorable connotations. If you look it up in
Dictionary.com, it means a person who has been estranged or excluded; and as an
adjective, it can mean "unlike one's own, strange" and also
"adverse, hostile, opposed." Of course, it also means an
extraterrestrial. What gets me is that we have so many aliens living
among us right now -- all those human beings who moved without permission from
one geographical unit of the Earth to another. How can a member of our
own species be an alien? Why should being from inside another
nationalistic boundary make such a person "estranged, excluded, strange,
adverse, hostile, opposed, unlike one's own"? Why should stepping
across an imaginary line alienate a person from his or her fellow human beings?</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
“On
my future Earth there are no nationalistic boundaries. Earth is united
and while administrative regions exist, freedom of movement is universal.
No passports, no visas. One currency. If you come from Scandinave
and you want to work in Ostrailia, all you have to do is buy a ticket on a
flyer, disembark, find a place to live, and go to work. People may be
encouraged to move to certain parts of the planet in order to equalize the
distribution of the population, but nobody is forced to do that.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
Now
I’m going to present the last three Mythmaker Precepts (nos. 18, 19, and 20):</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
No.
18: There are creatures on this planet who speak, form symbols, and share
emotions; these may be called human.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
No.
19: The humans of our planet are all the same species; therefore they should
care for one another and avoid the destruction of their own kind.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
No.
20: Since humans share their genetic heritage with all the bio-organisms of
this planet, they should always seek to preserve life.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
And
then I’m going to quote from Part One of <i>The Man Who Found Birds among the
Stars</i>. In this scene fifteen-year-old
Robbin Nikalishin has made an unfortunate mistake and is being counseled by
Prf. Alise Doone, the head of the Humanities Dept. at Epping Science Academy and his moral philosophy teacher.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
“The final three Precepts
deal with the basic evolutionary nature of the human being. Which do you think epitomizes what the
Mythmakers were trying to say?”</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
Robbie took a deep
breath, desperately dredging his brain.
“The last one, I suppose. About
how humans should always try to preserve life because they share their genetics
with all creatures.”</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
“Well, that awareness
is central to the survival of our planet, of course. But it’s Number 19 that takes precedence – <b><i>The
humans of our planet are all the same species</i></b><i>; therefore they should care for one another and avoid the destruction
of their own kind.</i> Until Earthers
accorded this reality an emotional acceptance, they were doomed to oppose each
other along racial and ethnic lines.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
“And you should also keep Number 18 in your
mind: <i>There are creatures on this planet
who speak, form symbols, and share emotions; these may be called human.</i> <b>The
entire thrust of the Mythmaker philosophy is about what it means to be human.</b> Keep that in your mind, Robbie. It may not mean so much to you right now, but
possibly it may at some later point of your life.”</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
This
passage encapsulates what I’m trying to say here. I put the salient points in bold face and I’ll
stress this one again:</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<b>THE
HUMANS OF OUR PLANET ARE ALL THE SAME SPECIES!</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
Anybody
who has been acquainted with me for a while has seen that statement pop up on a
FaceBook post or elsewhere. Here’s the
definition of a species from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species">Wikipedia </a>: “A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in
which two individuals are capable
of reproducing fertile offspring, typically using sexual
reproduction.” There are various
ambiguities related to this definition, which are discussed in the Wikipedia
article, but for our present purposes, let’s accept this definition given
above. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
HUMANS
ALL SHARE THE SAME DNA. Any human can
breed with any other human. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
It
doesn’t make sense for groups within the same species to try to destroy each
other. While animals of the same species
do kill each other at times, their basic motivation is to ensure the survival
of their species. Therefore, they kill
to gain mating rights, to protect territory, and to ensure food
resources. Some primates do mount internecine
group attacks, but again it’s to protect territory. Humans, however, practice mass killings of
their own kind all the time and the motivation can be for territory or food
resources (hardly ever to acquire mating rights, at least in our modern times; courtship is more an individual matter
in our species), but the most common motivations are to acquire power, to gain
revenge, and (most unfortunate of all) to forcibly spread their religious
beliefs. Animals never kill for revenge,
they don’t give a fig about gods, and they don’t organize wars (except for some
insect species, certain ants, for example).</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
Humans
evolved to be different from other animals.
Supposedly we acquired a mind capable of reasoning out our difficulties
and resolving them through language and empathy (Precept No. 18). The minute differences in DNA that exist among the
various races and ethnic groups of humans are inconsequential; WE’RE ALL THE
SAME SPECIES. I have predicated the
Mythmaker ethic on an innate ability of the human consciousness to recognize and
act upon the fact that peace and cooperation are better than conflict and
destruction at structuring a world where our species can ensure its survival
and even thrive. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
But
first we have to get past the outer shell of our fellow humans. Dogs and cats differ widely in appearance,
but they all recognize each other as a fellow dog or fellow cat instinctively,
regardless of color or hair length or size.
For some reason human beings have a hard time getting past the outer
shell and appreciating what’s on the inside.
Skin color, eye or nose shape, hair texture – these characteristics are
of no value in determining a person’s worth.
Yet the fear of the unlike – fear of the alien – seems to be part of humanity’s
genetic makeup. I suppose this also had
something to do with survival when we were evolving, but it’s essential for present-day
humanity to rise above this misperception and learn how to subdue this instinct.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
Lately,
I’m not so sure whether I was right about the fundamental ability of humanity
to discern what the Mythmakers called the Right Path. We have made progress at eliminating
discrimination based on race and ethnicity, but too much of that has been just
lip service and political correctness. <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">What we must do now is achieve that emotional acceptance of the fact
that among humans there are no aliens!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="text-align: center;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-indent: 28.8px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-indent: 28.8px;">WE ARE ALL ONE SPECIES</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<o:p> </o:p><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.3in;">That
is my mantra, and I will keep repeating it as long as I can utter words.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Links to other posts in this series:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-indent: 28.8px;">
<a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/11/what-can-we-expect-from-future-my-new.html" style="text-indent: 28.8px;">No. 1: What Can We Expect from the Future?</a></div>
<div style="text-indent: 28.8px;">
<a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/11/how-will-humanity-lift-itself-out-of.html" style="text-indent: 28.8px;">No. 2: How Will Humanity Lift Itself out of the Second Dark Age?</a></div>
<div style="text-indent: 28.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: 28.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: 28.8px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-51278597959191021332016-11-19T08:23:00.000-08:002016-12-09T13:23:56.491-08:00How Will Humanity Lift Itself Out of the 2nd Dark Age? No. 2 in my New Series of Mythmaker Posts<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWPCv_1rycqc1AfG3ToKDHwakh48p7lxqo9_dV6yTadrimakSPRNLKILUv678F_x78Izkx0yRcU12oLmyILAE7VC4FtBwDIFRrTeaRURwWdJsPA_l0gPrZXPikTJafJiLcFc71j075dY-S/s1600/Phoenix-from+Pixabay.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWPCv_1rycqc1AfG3ToKDHwakh48p7lxqo9_dV6yTadrimakSPRNLKILUv678F_x78Izkx0yRcU12oLmyILAE7VC4FtBwDIFRrTeaRURwWdJsPA_l0gPrZXPikTJafJiLcFc71j075dY-S/s320/Phoenix-from+Pixabay.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">PHOENIX<br />from<br />https://pixabay.com/en/phoenix-bird-legendary-mythical-1301889 </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
I
don’t want to waste effort reviewing all the things that went wrong on Earth
during the 21st through the 24th centuries, since you can read about that in
the above summation of My Future History.
I will only say that the effect of “radiant” bombing and also of an
uncontrollable new weapon invented by the Techno-Warlords – a pseudo-organism
called a self-replicating nanobot – put the finishing touches to the
destruction in the period called the Apocalyptical (last half of the 24th
century). At that point much of Earth
became uninhabitable, leaving only a gaggle of disconnected entities, with some
areas remaining less damaged than other (the British Isles, Australia, Japan, portions
of North America and other continents).
These areas existed in isolation, without the ability to trade or even
communicate with other parts of the world, and they were ruled mostly by
tyrants who jealously guarded whatever remnants of technology they could
glean. There was no longer an internet
and most libraries and seats of learning had been destroyed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
So
how could any vestige of civilization and knowledge be kept alive? Here the easiest thing to do is to quote from
My Future History: </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
“Throughout
the Second Dark Age there endured a minority of people who valued reason, compassion,
freedom, and order and who never entirely lost their faith in human
nature. Overwhelmed by the misery of the time, these people had to
go underground, communicating by a primitive shortwave radio relay network in
places where parts for the equipment could be fabricated or
scavenged. These people had acquired a name: the <b>Underground Archivists</b>, composed of
teachers, writers, librarians, scientists, and information
technicians. ... The Archivists took inspiration from works of 20th
century Fantasists like <i>Fahrenheit 451</i> and <i>The Mote in
God’s Eye</i> and began to collect and secrete any knowledge of the past
that seemed to them useful for the future. They would hide books or
any format of compressed electronic information that they could acquire; they
would even scrounge pencil stubs and stray scraps of paper from old middens and
copy out by hand material they thought worth preserving. They placed
their hoards in any container that they thought might protect them – oil drums,
shell casings, coffins, the husks of now-useless refrigerators and electronic
devices – and hid them in old bunkers, caves, bank vaults, abandoned subway and
utility tunnels. Then they died, leaving their caches behind for
subsequent generations to rediscover.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
This
is why you’ll find passages in <i>The Man
Who Found Birds among the Stars </i>like this one (from the incomplete second
part):</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
“Robbie sprawled on the couch and started
scrambling idly through the links. For a
while he listened to GovNews’s daily review of the contents of the most
recently discovered Underground Archivist caches; the wide-ranging nature of
what those remarkable people had thought worthy of preservation never ceased to
fascinate him. This time there were 22nd
century maps of a Devastation Zone city called Atlanta, along with the
blueprints of some of the commercial buildings built in that era. There were photocopies of a dozen 20th
century publications called “comic books” (although the commentator noted that
the name was mystifying, since the content of these works of graphic fiction
appeared to consist almost entirely of depictions of horror and violent crime,
with very little humor). In Nipon a
collection of vids had come to light illustrating an incredibly grotesque sport
called sumo, accompanied by a book detailing its history and rules. And there was a unique vid that had
bioscientists quite excited; it showed the extinct three-toed sloth moving
through a sector of the Amazen rainforest that was now a dry wasteland … </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
“And, unearthed in an
archaeological excavation that was ongoing in the Safrisco salt marshes of the
West Ammeriken Coast, an especially significant historical find – original
records from the late 23rd century detailing the last days of an institution
called University of California. The
cache included a five-year diary written by the last Chancellor of the
University. The journal ended abruptly
at 22 March 2290, the day when the series of earthquakes had commenced that
brought an end to civilization on the Ammeriken Pacifik Coast. The Old Ammeriken States had been facing
continental civil war at that time and no resources were available to rebuild
anything destroyed by natural calamities.
It was all prime stuff.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
But there was more to
the salvation of civilization than simply the preservation of data and
artifacts. Among the ranks of the
Archivists were some inspired, genuinely creative individuals who chose to
produce a new canon of literature and other art forms that could form the basis
of a new. humanist ethic. Not a single
one of these creators ever signed any of their works so they remain eternally
anonymous. Their works were preserved by
the Archivists in the same way that more prosaic knowledge was preserved – in
those secret caches. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
The writers of these
works came to be known as the <b>Mythmakers</b>.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: .3in;">
I have a lot of
information on the Mythmakers in the documents where I preserve notes for my
writing. What they wrote was mostly
fantasy fiction or variations on fantastic themes, but they also composed
poetry, dramas, and music, and produced graphic art. On Facebook I recently viewed Ursula K.
LeGuin’s <a href="http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/ursula-k-le-guin-calls-on-sci-fi-and-fantasy-writers-to-envision-alternatives-to-capitalism">acceptance speech</a> when she was awarded the National Book Foundation’s medal for Distinguished Contribution to
American Letters. In it she “explained how authors,
especially fantasy writers, have a special opportunity to stand up to the
corporate system because they can portray a world very different from
the one we currently live in.” I think
the same is true in a broader sense – that fantasy writers have a special
opportunity and even obligation to influence the way we think about the
fundamentals of our lives. They can
become the Mythmakers of our future.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
The 26th century, when civilization was coming back to
life, was a time of vigorous philosophical ferment. By the 27th century,
the Mythmaker’s humanistic philosophy had taken root, and a set of 20 Precepts
had been formulated, not as prescriptive laws or commandments but as a rational
guide to right behavior. People accepted this new way of thinking and this
enabled the unification of Earth, which had proved impossible in earlier times,
and hence qualified Earthers to attempt to fly to the stars and take their
place in the greater Galaxy. So perhaps the Second Dark Age will be worth
all the losses.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: .3in;">
So
what are the Mythmaker Precepts all about?
Next time, we’ll begin an analysis.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: #faecec; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: justify;">Link to earlier post in this series:</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<a href="http://termitewriter.blogspot.com/2016/11/what-can-we-expect-from-future-my-new.html" style="text-indent: 28.8px;">No. 1: What Can We Expect from the Future?</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: #faecec; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: justify;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8px;">
<br /></div>
Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-24896155481791343922016-11-13T09:41:00.000-08:002016-11-26T07:12:11.806-08:00What Can We Expect from the Future? My New Series of Mythmaker Posts<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
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The
current stressful political climate in the United States has stimulated me to make
a new attempt to expound on my concept
of future history and how the Mythmaker philosophy fits into it. The best (and most painless) way to learn
about my thinking is to read my books, particularly <i>The Termite Queen</i>, v. 1 and 2, and <i>Fathers and Demons</i>. <i>The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars</i>
still hasn’t been published, but it will contain the best exposition yet of my
vision of the future. Even my termite
series <i>The Labors of Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head
</i>contains passages that reflect my thinking.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<i>The Termite Queen </i>contains a somewhat
lengthy section that encapsulates the future history of Earth. I’ve excerpted that in a separate page of
this blog. Find it on the Pages
cross-column above.</div>
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Lately
I’ve seen three foreshadowings of elements that I predicted in my future
history. The first is obvious – the
prevalence of religious fanaticism leading to vicious wars. To quote my own
writing in <i>The Termite Queen</i>: “The
militant religionist movement that began early in the 21st century resulted in
a succession of conflicts known as the Zealot Wars.” I’ll address that problem in later
posts. </div>
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The
second element is what I called the Fractures, and the third is the rise of the
TWLs (the Techno-Warlords). To quote
again: “In the 22nd century the period known as the Fractures began, when
time-hallowed nation-states – the ironically named ‘Great Powers’ – of Earth
began to break apart and make war with each other and within
themselves. It was the time of the Techno-Warlords – the TWLs –
dictators who sought to seize for themselves the remnants of the petroleum
reserves and who lived by advancing technology exclusively for the purpose of
producing an increasingly horrific war machine.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
So
are the Fractures already beginning? The
European Union is in trouble, and lately there has been secessionist talk in
California, which is certainly big enough to be a country to itself. Texas has always wanted to be its own country. French-speaking Canada might like to go
it alone if it were encouraged. </div>
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And
then comes Donald Trump, who wants to wall off the United States and ban
immigration as much as possible (or at least so he says – no telling what he
will really do). At a time when we
should be encouraging globalization and a unified Earth, he and a lot of people
whose livelihoods are threatened want to retreat from it. We need to become expansive and inclusive – to
learn to work together, not bicker with each other and fight and kill our own
kind.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
Fractures
encourage the rise of the TWL. In my
conceptualization, Hitler is considered the first Techno-Warlord because he was
the first to use rockets as weapons.
There is a passage on this in <i>Fathers
and Demons </i>(laid in the 28th century), where Chaim Oman is recounting the
history of the Jewish people post-20th century:</div>
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Everybody stirred a
little, because the atrocities of the 20th century were tenaciously included in
the history curriculum. Linna said,
“That marks the onset of humanity’s descent into the Second Dark Age. It’s not only because the first radiant bombs
were exploded then. It’s also because of
that Uropian dictator – I don’t recall his name right off – who set out to
cleanse the human species of elements he judged inferior. I think he murdered around ten million
people.”</div>
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Dr. Yow added
contemplatively, “His name was Hitler.
He used the primitive technology of the time for his racial purification
and he was the first tyrant to use rockets as weapons. For those reasons he’s known as the PTWL –
the Proto-Techno-Warlord. He wasn’t the
one who exploded the first radiant weapons, though. That honor goes to the government of the Old
Ammeriken States.” </div>
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<br /></div>
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That’s why anybody
with a sense of history is afraid of Donald Trump, because he has seemed to
encourage his followers to commit violent acts and to hate those who are
unlike, and because he exhibits demagogic tendencies, to want to be able to
dictate rather than cooperate and legislate (his overweening battle cry “I
alone can fix it.”) Again, I’m not
really sure whether he is serious in these statements or whether he is a clever
actor, playing the “sucker born every minute” card, and playing it very well. After all, Mr. Bloomberg didn’t call Trump a
conman for nothing.</div>
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Basic to my future
history is the depletion of the Earth’s oil reserves. When I first wrote my future history (around
2002), I checked on the amount of oil that was left and it was about 50 years
worth. I was appalled. Do you know how short a time 50 years
is? It passes in an eye-blink! I’m 76 and it seems like just the other day
that I was 26. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
So just now I checked
the figure again to see if it had changed.
See <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/world-energy-day-2014-how-much-oil-left-how-long-will-it-last-1471200">this post </a>from BP where it is stated “In June, BP provided
an intriguing update to its global oil reserves estimates in the company's
yearly review of energy statistics. It raised its reserve estimate by 1.1% to
1,687.9 billion barrels – just enough oil to last the world 53.3 years at the
current production rates.”</div>
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So I figured that
unless the Earth gets its act together, we’d better find other means of
producing the power that our ultra-high technology consumes, or we’ll be in
real trouble. My view is pessimistic. We’re going to use up all the oil and have
nothing ready to replace it by the beginning of the 22nd century. At that point the electrical grid collapses,
communication and transportation break down, and we head for a return to the
Stone Age, or very near.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
Of
course, run-away climate change plays its part, too, with coastal cities
disappearing under the sea, along with drought and water-famines and the rise
of mutated disease organisms ...
However, I’m not getting into all that here. Let me just say that all that will feed into
the Fractures and the rise of the TWLs.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
So,
yes, I’m a pessimist about the future of Earth – in the short run. But I have not been pessimistic about the
nature of humanity (although I’ve been having my doubts lately). There will be people who keep the best
aspects of humanity alive throughout the coming Second Dark Age. And that will be the subject of later posts.</div>
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Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843833519373801339.post-42309898670997450072016-10-26T07:57:00.000-07:002016-10-26T07:57:22.830-07:00Review of an Unusual, Even Unique Book: Hyperlink from Hell<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnbSQDRgwa6iOpmesV9dK7v-wSO3MA0L_C0dB_QrXXS_1OUxHVrHetMgzdRzfu97t7yHyKQmC2QB3Dj_oDohPJc5mvsqjSMaZ_eklYQRgOgPBn4NhspOOp9hoGZR390rFCrnvM5v7gJY_/s1600/Cover%252C+Hyperlink+from+Hell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnbSQDRgwa6iOpmesV9dK7v-wSO3MA0L_C0dB_QrXXS_1OUxHVrHetMgzdRzfu97t7yHyKQmC2QB3Dj_oDohPJc5mvsqjSMaZ_eklYQRgOgPBn4NhspOOp9hoGZR390rFCrnvM5v7gJY_/s320/Cover%252C+Hyperlink+from+Hell.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buy at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hyperlink-Hell-Couch-Potatos-Afterlife-ebook/dp/B009NY159O/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1477493621&sr=1-1&keywords=lindy+moone">Amazon</a>!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Hyperlink from Hell; a Couch Potato's Guide to the Afterlife</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>by Lindy Moone</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I discovered that Lindy Moone was in the process of reading my Ki'shto'ba series, so I investigated what she had written and discovered this remarkable book. Ir isn't formulaic -- it marches to its own drummer -- and that's what I like. I'm planning to read it a second time because the plot is not all that coherent, as I note below. However, I've been in touch with the author and she is planning a sequel (maybe two books) in which she promises to make everything much clearer!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here is my review:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A bored god plays
games with those who created him<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Hyperlink from Hell is a difficult book. On a superficial level, it’s a bawdy,
raucously funny, offbeat fantasy, but it’s a lot more than that. The beginning grabbed me because the author
is such a skillful writer, establishing the situation, setting, and characters
with smooth realism. Then with the onset
of Jimmie Canning’s book-within-a-book, I was plunged into the kind of story I
don’t usually read – overloaded with sex, nudity, and bathroom humor. However, I just kept plowing through and that
element tapered off as the story continued and expanded into speculative
fiction, including an investigation of the afterlife and the nature of god. It’s saturated with puns (and I happen to
love puns), and it’s also loaded with references to popular TV and movie
entertainment from the past thirty or forty years. I never watched a lot of those shows, so I’m
sure I missed some zingers, but I got enough of them to appreciate the effect.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When I finished the book, I reread the beginning and the concluding
sections and I have to say, while some of my questions were answered, I felt
just like Dr. Stapledon – I still didn’t fully understand what really
happened. It’s a book that should be
read at least twice because the plot is not the most coherent or
self-explanatory. There are two sets of
the same characters, who exist in alternate realities, and the relationship
among these two sets can get really confusing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Three of the characters die early on and the quirkiest of
gods, who loves pop culture and game shows as much as Jimmie does, steps in to
play games with his creations’ afterlife, testing and teaching them in a sort
of mad, mad, mad, mad reality show purgatory.
It includes shapeshifting (flying monkeys, to say nothing of walking
pineapples), a stinky but lovable invisible dog, Frankenstein’s monster, giant
T. Rexes, vampires ... the list goes on and on.
God appears first as the Wizard of Oz – the Man behind the Curtain – but
he also takes the form of the Cheshire Cat, the snake in the Garden of Eden, a
tiny devil wielding a pickle fork ... and finally as the Master of Ceremonies
in the ultimate game show, which soon morphs into a major battle between good
and evil (complete with weapons provided by a purple case reminiscent of the
walking box in some of Terry Pratchett’s books.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But a pivotal element is when god discusses who he really
is, and this calls for a quotation:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Check out those books of yours, again. All of them.
My favorite line is ‘Man created God in his own image.’ ... I think I
was willed into existence.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Who could do such a thing?
How? Why?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“YOU PEOPLE, WHO ELSE? How, I can’t say. I’m sure you had your reasons – lots of
reasons – but when it all comes down to it, you just want someone to blame and
a Twinkie. I’m sick to death of you, but
I’m stuck.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So this cynical, bored god plays with those who created him
in order to alleviate his boredom, but this doesn’t negate the processes of
good and evil. “Thou shalt not kill”
still applies and so do the Seven “Dudleys,” the Seven Deadly Sins. And the wonder of it is, the antihero Jimmie
grows as a character, until by the end he becomes a real hero, defeating evil
with a visual pun in a delightful plot twist.
Jimmie also refuses to kill and has learned how to forgive and how to
care about his fellow human beings. A
hero also has to give up something in order to do the right thing (part of my
own definition of the hero) and that surely happens in Jimmie’s case. All of this comes out of his own mental
processes, which aligns this book with humanism – that your ability to be good
comes out of yourself and not from an external command from a god who may not
even have an independent existence.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I could write a lot more about this book, but I’ll just end
by again praising the author’s writing skills, which are capable of keeping the
reader mesmerized even when the plot is at its most confusing. I should also say that the ebook is carefully
formatted, with no aberrations to distract the attention and no typos that I
caught. That’s yet another plus. The only reasons I’m giving it four instead
of five stars are the excessive use of bawdy humor and the confusing elements
of the plot.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And at least at the moment, the book is only 99 cents. You’ll get a lot of pleasure and an intellectual
workout for this 99 cents, and I strongly recommend that you pick up a copy
right now.</div>
Lorinda J Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985567506994751475noreply@blogger.com0